Magic of the Force
by Vimesenthusiast
Summary: Harry's always wondered why the Dursleys hated him. After a nasty beating breaks loose some memories, he starts to experiment only to find he really may be different. After a few a few setbacks he starts to gain control of his powers, only to receive another beating. Pleading with his magic to get him away, he soon discovers he has a great destiny and the family he always wanted.
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter/Star Wars

So here is my surprise, two chapters each of the universe I would dearly love to start crossovers with after WW is done. There are several really good stories being worked on that crossover with the Star Wars universe, most of them HP admittedly, but there are one or two others. So I have posted the intro chapters of my Ranma/Harry Potter and Star Wars crossovers.

I cannot emphasize enough that I would choose one or the other, not both. I could not keep them straight if I tried to do both. My preference would be for the Ranma cross, since the amount of chaos he could cause would be immense and fun. But I feel that a merging of the worlds would be much easier to do with Harry Potter.

You will notice a few fan created clichés at first, but they became clichés because they are so easy to see happen in the original. I hope that I show them in an appropriate manner here. I also hope that those of you who read it first will see how this universe would differ greatly from my Ranma/SW idea

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Questions Asked and Mysteries Solved**

Harry groaned as he tried to straighten up from the ball he'd curled into after Vernon had tossed him into his cupboard. His head was pounding, and the scar on his forehead was particularly throbbing, having caught a direct blow from Vernon's knuckles. His eye was also black and blue, and his nose felt broken.

While this wasn't the first time Vernon had beaten him like this, this was one of the worst beatings Harry could remember and his mind was all of a jumble. "But it really was an honest mistake." He groaned to himself while he began to crawl towards the small blanket that he called his bed in one corner.

It had been an actual mistake too, though it was Harry's rather than the teacher as Harry had tried to imply. Almost since the day the Dursleys had been forced to send him to school Harry had been very careful to get lower scores than Dudley. The beating he had gotten in primary the first time he brought home an assignment sheet with a 'Fantastic!' sticker on it had stayed with him.

But scoring lower than Dudley particularly in Reading and Writing took a lot of effort. And this time Harry had made a mistake, he had put down what he thought was the wrong answer on a vocabulary quiz, but it turned out it had been the right one.

 _Of course the teacher's comment on_ _ **finally**_ _seeing some improvement from a boy she knows is smarter than he lets on in his tests had added to the effect of the 'little freak' scoring better than 'my dearest Duddykins._ Harry scowled at that thought. The beating had begun with Aunt Petunia, and had continued when Vernon came home in a bad mood about something from his work at Grunnings. Worse it was a Friday, so neither of the Dursleys had to worry about keeping where his injuries wouldn't show.

Harry wasn't very bothered about any of the injuries to his chest or back, Harry knew he'd be healed by Monday, it had happened before. His head throbbing like it was though, that was worrying. Worse he was beginning to get flashes of dreams, but they felt a little too real to be dreams, they were almost like memories, full sight, sound and sensation memories.

Pulling the rag he called a blanket over himself Harry groaned, curling up into a ball again. _Bugger me, they really worked me over this time, the last time I've felt this way was…_ Suddenly Harry's thoughts ground to a halt, as he remembered that incident.

Dudley and his gang of bullies had decided that they didn't want to run after Harry any longer, and had taken to throwing stones at him instead. One of them had caught him in the cheek, and Harry had feared that they would put out his eyes if they continued to fling stones at him.

Before this how Harry had escaped them that time was hazy, but now it came through bright and clear and almost his mind. He had run away, only to find that the alleyway he had run into near the school was a dead-end. He had heard them coming, had felt the pain in his cheek, had heard them shouting, "20 points for the eye, 50 points if you can hit the freak's scar!"

Harry had panicked trying desperately to think of how to get away, how to reach a safe place. He heard one of them shout to the others, ducked as a rock had hit the wall behind him, and suddenly, Harry was no longer in the alleyway, but up on top of a roof nearby.

The memory was so vivid now! He could remember the feel of the shingles under his feet, his old hand-me-down sneakers so thin on the bottom he could actually feel each shingle in turn as he skated a little down the side of the slanted roof. He remembered with a wince the pain he felt when he desperately grabbed onto a chimney to stop himself from losing his footing.

He could even remember the sounds of the three bullies below him shouting angrily at one another about how they had missed him. But after that the memory faded back to nothing. No like how memories from years ago faded, like the ones from his earliest years, which he could no longer tell were dreams or real memories, but simply nothing. Yet the rest of his memory of the incident was so clear…

"But, but that couldn't have happened. People can't just disappear from one place and appear somewhere else. Can they?" he said aloud staring up at the sloped ceiling of his covered, using some of the vocabulary he never would use in school or anywhere else where it could get back to the Dursleys. "That's like something out of that Star Trek show. But I didn't have any kind of teleportation device or anything."

 _The memory was so real,_ Harry thought, falling silent for a moment. _It was a real memory, just as real as the memory of the beating I just took, or the recipes I've had to learn over the years. I don't have that good of imagination, do I?_

Then an odd thought occurred to him, possibly made from this latest beating. _Could this be why, could I really be a freak? Could the Dursleys know about my ability to pop or whatever, and that's why they hate me?_

Harry knew his so-called family hated him, he had seen far too many normal families and how they acted, even to relatives rather than their own children, to have any doubt on that score. What he had never been able to figure out before was **why**!

He did everything he could to get on their good side, he cooked their meals, and he knew it was a better cook than Petunia by this point. He did all the chores he was assigned. Petunia had gotten some awards for her roses of late because he was able to clear out all of the bugs and weeds that would harm them. Then when 'Freak' was sent to school and found out his name was Harry Potter, he still routinely tried to make himself as small and unobtrusive as possible after that first incident.

Yet nothing worked and still the Dursleys hated him. The beatings had become less over the years simply because Harry was now spending most of his time at school or the municipal library, and Vernon and Petunia in particular were leery about giving people the 'wrong idea' by marking Harry where it would show in public.

Yet this could be the reason why they called him the freak. "But is it just because I can do that? I can't control it, whatever it was, I was just so scared." He said aloud again, bringing one finger up to rub at his scar wincing at the pain of it. Suddenly he stopped, pulling away his finger and then touching his nose and eye gingerly. Then despite the pain he began to smile…

 **OOOOOOO**

Two days later was Monday, and Harry eagerly rushed out the door after preparing breakfast for the Dursleys, grabbing up an apple and some grapes from a bowl set on the table. None of the others save Petunia occasionally ever ate from that bowl so it was safe enough, it was simply there because the Dursleys thought it was normal to have a bowl of fruit on their dining table.

By the time Dudley tromped onto the bus waiting for them at the corner Harry had ensconced himself in the seat directly behind the driver, and had already finished eating. Dudley glared at him for a moment, but knew better than to try anything on the bus. The bus driver didn't care who you were, if you caused trouble he tossed you out. Dudley had seen it happen to a few older students, and it had stuck with him since.

The school day passed interminably for Harry until recess was announced. Then while all the other kids raced outside, Harry made his way to library. There Ms. Hicks the school librarian smiled down at him. "Hello Harry, what can I help you with today?"

Her smile turned sad as Harry flushed in happiness at her tone. It said something about his home life that simply speaking to him nicely caused Harry to feel so much happiness, and she made a mental note yet again to start up a file on him. Little did she know it would not be the first time she or any of the other teachers had done so. But nothing would come of it, again.

"Good morning Ms. Hicks." Harry replied politely. "I'd like to use one of the computers if that's all right? I'd like to look something up."

"You sure you don't want to look it up in one of the books?"Ms. Hicks asked even as she stood up from her desk, leading Harry over to one of the computers, one that allowed him to watch the doorway since she knew he felt more at ease that way. She winced when Harry flinched at her gentle touch on the top of his head. Yes, she really did need to start a file on him.

"I don't think I'll be able to find what I'm looking for there, Ms. Hicks." Harry replied, still respectfully, but inching away slightly from the older woman. Some of the teachers had tried to act friendly with to him in the past, one had even asked if Harry would like to see if he could find a new family. But that teacher had suddenly moved away, and whenever the other ones started to ask questions, that too stopped abruptly, Harry didn't know why.

"All right, I know I can trust you on them, just don't stay in here all recess okay?"Ms. Hicks said smiling. "Boys need their exercise."

"Yes Ms. Hicks I will." Harry replied, sitting down at one of four computers in the library while Ms. Hicks went back to her desk.

The computers were a gift from a rich donator, and were almost brand-new, and they had access to the World Wide Web. Harry had heard Vernon remark on the WWW, how it was all newfangled technology and would never amount to anything. Harry disagreed though he kept it to himself of course. He believed the World Wide Web would continue to grow, just like computer technology **.**

After a few minutes, Harry leaned back, frowning. He couldn't find the information he was looking for, but that did not dissuade him. The WWW was so new after all, the information just might not be available yet on it. It would just have been faster than trying to find the information in books. Thanking Ms. Hicks he left the room, but did not go outside, instead taking refuge in the classroom until recess ended.

After school Harry did not head back to Privet Drive, avoiding Dudley and his gang with the ease of long practice while racing to the refuge of the public library. The librarians there were all no nonsense sorts who didn't care who someone's family was or what you looked like. If you made noise or acted out in their library, you were out on your ear and would not be allowed back in.

After asking for help once again he was directed towards a section of books on health, though he ignored the ones that were supposedly for his age group, searching the others diligently. Eventually Harry found a book that covered some of the wounds Harry knew he had taken. They also told how long it would take a normal person to heal from them. After a moment, Harry had to lean back in shock. _Is that right?_

According to the books, Harry healed hundreds of times faster than humans were normally supposed to. Athletes and those with perfect health of course healed faster than those without perfect health, but even so Harry knew he wasn't an athlete, and he didn't exactly have good hygiene since he wasn't able to really have a balanced diet. The occasional granola bar, a stolen sandwich when he could get away with it, and fruit was basically all he could eat outside the occasional cafeteria meal at the school which was free with enrollment, else Harry knew the Dursleys would not have paid for it.

 _So not only do I heal faster than someone with my diet and general health should, but I heal faster than_ _ **anyone**_ _should! It's not perfect like that comic book character what's his name, Wolverine?_ Harry had seen that comic book occasionally among Dudley's collection. _His doesn't leave scars, but this does. My, my healing factor I suppose, it just keeps me alive and relatively whole. But, but_ _ **how**_ _, why?_

Those were the thoughts that kept ringing in his head as Harry made his way back to the Dursleys. Petunia met him at the door, grabbing his shoulder firmly was the doors closed. "It's about time you came home! Dinner time's barely an hour away and you haven't even started, get cooking!" She growled, pushing him towards the kitchen then going back to her favorite pastime of spying on her neighbors.

As Harry entered the kitchen he heard her mutter. "That's the same mailman that came by yesterday, and he's not the normal one assigned here either, I wonder… that would be such a scandal!"

Harry shook his head sadly then put what he just heard out of his mind as he quickly fell into the routine of fixing one of the Dursleys' huge dinners. He was even able to sneak some for himself since Petunia was the only one at home and she was busy staring out the window trying to see what was going on behind the curtains next-door, not having noticed that the mailman had come and gone long since.

Dudley came home soon after that but headed up to his room without bothering Harry. He knew that if he did bother Harry when he was cooking the food would be late, and if there was one thing that Dudley took seriously it was food.

A few minutes later Vernon was home and Harry quickly made his way out of the kitchen saying "dinners on the table." With that he rushed over to his cupboard opening and closing the door quickly once he was inside.

Vernon glared after him then shook his head, muttered "Freak", and made his way over to the table, where a heavy steak and kidney pie waited, along with some garlic bread sticks.

"He's not the only one." Petunia said, shaking her head as she to set down. "I think Mrs. Cripps next-door might be having an affair!"

In his cupboard Harry took out the food he'd grabbed, several bits sticks, as well as a pen he had stolen from the small table next to the kitchen door that held the phone and a few books. Pulling his small incredibly tattered bookbag out, he turned to a precious page of the one notebook he had, which had to last him all of his classes all year-long, and wrote down in very tiny scribbles what he had discovered.

He made a note of putting down the name of the book he had looked up the information on healing down as well since it might prove helpful in the future. Then in the light of the one sparking overhead light that was in the cupboard he leaned against the wall of his cupboard and said aloud "What else? Think, think like a scientist conducting an experiment, like the older boys do, taking note of changes in their plants."

For a moment Harry couldn't think of anything, and scrubbed his hands through his hair irritably. Then he pulled them away gasped."My hair, that's it!"

Petunia had been forced to give him a haircut before this school year began because the first form kids were going to have photos taken and she refused to let him have a photo taken with his normal messy hair. Not because she cared what he looked like, but because she worried what people would think of her and her family.

It'd been horrible, a misshapen thing with half of his head almost sheared off and the other half just a little longer. But the next day when Harry woke up to go to school, his hair had grown back to its normal disheveled appearance. Petunia had ranted and raved about it, but thankfully Vernon had already left for the day for an early-morning meeting. He'd also come home in a good mood, and Harry only had taken a few light slaps upside the head after school from Petunia.

"But I couldn't control that, and I didn't control the teleportation either." After a few moments thinking about that he thought to himself: _Maybe that's because I didn't know about them? Now that I do can I control it?_

Harry decided to see if he could control his hair first figuring that would be less dangerous. He could all too easily remember the fear that he felt hanging onto the chimney as he stared down at the alley all that way below him.

He waited, breathless with anticipation and eagerness while the Dursleys finished their meal then watched television for a few hours before trooping off to bed one after another. As usual Petunia rapped on the door to his cupboard shouting "the dishes better be done before I wake up tomorrow Potter!"

For some reason when she said Harry's last name, she put as much vitriol in the word as Vernon or Dudley could the word 'freak' at their worst. Harry had no idea why that was, nor any inclination to ask. "Yes, Aunt Petunia." he replied simply, politely as always.

He heard a sniff then listened as she followed her husband up the stairs above him, the creaking of the steps under Vernon's weight almost drowning out the noise of her own passage. Then he moved out of the cupboard and into the kitchen, diligently doing the work that Petunia had ordered him to do. After that and feeling very daring, he made his way back towards his cupboard, then closed the door, but remained outside.

He waited there in the dark of the hallway breathless at this little bit of rebellion as the noise above subsided slowly, Vernon and Dudley falling asleep. Petunia would remain awake reading her fashion magazines for a few minutes before turning in. It was the same every night, staid and above all normal, just the way the Dursleys like it.

But Harry, Harry wanted change. He wanted it so desperately he could taste it on his tongue, and whatever this was, whatever made the Dursleys think him a freak, he was willing to grab it with both hands and run with it if he could. With that in mind Harry slowly made his way back down the hallway and into the small bathroom set by the laundry room on the other side of the hallway from the stairs.

Trembling slightly Harry closed the door, wincing at the slight click when the catch caught despite his best efforts. Thankfully the hinges were well oiled, something Harry had been ordered to do a few weeks ago. With the door closed, Harry pulled off his shirt stuffing it into the area directly underneath the door in an effort to keep the light from showing just in case. Then he turned on the light, and stared at himself in the mirror.

Harry's face was thin, just this side of malnourished. He had huge spectacles on his face, which barely fit his face and Harry knew that they didn't actually help his vision all that much these days, if they ever had. His green eyes stared at his reflection, and Harry absently brushed the hair off of his forehead so that his lightning scar was visible.

He stared at it for a moment as he always did at times like this. Petunia had told him he'd gotten it in the car wreck that had killed his drunkard parents, but Harry didn't believe it. Oh, the scar might've come from something like that, but he didn't believe his parents were drunkards.

He sometimes remembered their voices, though whether from dreams or memories he no longer knew, nor cared. A deep baritone and light feminine voice laughing and someone else barking, either a dog or someone whose laughter was like a dog's bark Harry could never tell. Sometimes, those memories were accompanied by flashes of color, red, brown, and sometimes green, though those memories were never good ones.

But right now Harry was a boy on a mission, and he shook his head from those thoughts, staring at his hair in the reflection. _How do I do this?_ Harry had no idea, so he simply stared at his hair, trying to will it to change trying to imagine it a deep purple or green, but it didn't work, he couldn't keep the image in his mind. Then he tried something simpler, simply trying to imagine it longer, concentrating on that idea while gritting his teeth.

It took forever, the image wavering in his mind as he stared at the reality in the mirror, but slowly the hair actually changed, becoming longer, now falling past his eyes. "Oh wow!" He whispered excitedly, using all of his self-control not to shout or jump around in joy. Yet the moment he stopped concentrating on it his hair quickly shifted back to normal, shrinking as he watched.

But even so, Harry knew he had done it and knew it was possible to do it again. He took a step back, grinning so widely his mouth hurt from the unusual exercise. _I might be a freak, but at least I can control it a little! Am I, am a mutant then? Or is this something else?_

In the comic books mutants normally had one power, or several connected ones like Susan Storm. But Harry couldn't see a connection between being able to grow his hair, or possibly do more to it than that, and being able to teleport from one place to another.

Harry went to bed that evening still thinking about that, and the next day at school stared in shock at the answer directly in front of him in the book he was reading in mandatory reading. The teacher had innocently suggested it to him a few minutes ago. It was the Sword in the Stone, a book that was quite a few levels above Harry's known level, but the teacher had an idea that Harry's reading level was actually quite a bit higher than he let on.

"Magic…" Harry murmured, so low no one else around him heard it.

That evening Harry made notes again in his little notebook, as usual his small neat writing using every bit of space, frowning thoughtfully. _If it's magic, can I do other things? Best not to test that idea. Maybe try to control the hair first, then the teleporting?_

That evening and for the next few evenings Harry snuck out of his cupboard into the bathroom and began to try to manipulate his hair. He found that some changes became easier with time. After a week Harry was able to change the color of his hair yet he couldn't change the style without concentrating on it. When Harry stopped concentrating on his hair color, it tended to stay for a time, but he couldn't change his hairstyle and couldn't even make it grow without his concentrating on it. He wondered why, and made notes on this bit of research in his little notebook.

After two weeks of experimenting with his hair however, Harry was prepared to branch out. But he didn't have nearly as much luck in this area as with his hair. There was a huge difference between imagining his hair being somehow different to trying to imagine himself somewhere else than he currently was. He couldn't keep the image in his head long enough, couldn't concentrate hard enough to make the magic come out, or whatever.

This all changed when one day Harry was walking to the library. He was intent on looking up anything that could possibly help him figure out a way to concentrate more when he heard a voice behind him. "Hey Harry, guess what time it is?"

Harry turned quickly, staring as Dudley, Piers and a few of their friends came up behind him. "It's Harry Hunting time!" Dudley said, his piggy face smirking maliciously at his cousin. "But we figured we'd give you a head start this time, you've got 10 seconds to run, then we're coming after you."

To one side of Dudley, Piers laughed with all the malicious happiness a young bully could contain. "Better get a move on freak!"

Harry didn't need telling twice and raced off down the streets. He initially attempted to make for the safe haven of the public library but Dudley had taken a shortcut and gotten there ahead of him blocking off that safe zone, forcing Harry to run away in another direction until he was lost in the alleyways behind the small shopping area.

He found himself in the back of the supermarket wishing fervently that the door to set one side would open, but knowing he wouldn't be that lucky. Behind him Harry heard their voices as they rounded the corner. "You know it's been a while since we've had throwing practice Dudster, and the freak does make a good target!"

Harry cringed inside then desperately began to try and climb up over the little wall between him and the back of the supermarket. But Harry wasn't a very good climber never having had much practice and not having much upper body strength either. He was barely halfway up the wall when a stone caught him in the shoulder. "40 points right off the bat!" Dudley gloated behind him.

Harry winced as he fell to the ground, holding his shoulder in agony. He looked around desperately for an escape, but the four boys were standing in a row in the alleyways entrance, all of them holding small stones. Piers tried his luck next, and Harry dodged to one side. "Damn it, stay still freak!"

"Hah that makes it even better!" said one of the other boys whose name Harry didn't know. "Let's add 10 points to each hit we get when he's movin' around like that!"

"This is like an arcade game, only better!" laughed Dudley, throwing a stone.

Harry ducked again, hearing the whiz of the stone as it flew by his head, his eyes now widening in fear behind his glasses. _Got to get away, got to get away! Have to get away!_

After a brief argument about turns, the four boys in front of Harry all hurled their stones as one. Harry closed his eyes wishing himself elsewhere desperately with all the concentration he could muster in his fear-fueled state.

And suddenly he was. Harry collapsed to the asphalt in the small parking lot alongside the library. He was in an unused corner with a small tree in it, where Harry had fond memories of napping a time or two when Dudley was busy elsewhere. He stood up, shakily, and tried to move away from the tree he was leaning against only to frown when he looked down at his hand, which **wasn't there**!

Harry brought up his other hand to his mouth to hold back the scream as he saw that his hand was gone, old habits of holding in his cries in fear of getting punished worse coming to the fore. He began to hyperventilate, wondering what happened. _How did, d-did I leave it behind? Is that even possible?_

Suddenly he heard loud popping noises all around him, and odd man in very odd clothing, appeared. One of them pointed at Harry. "This must be the one George," He said, moving over to Harry quickly. "Worst case of accidental magic I've ever seen, whoever heard of a youngster being able to apparate?"

"We'll see what the other team has to say about that." The man so addressed said, moving over towards Harry with his hands held out calmly. "Calm down boyo, we're here to help you. Don't worry you'll have your hands back like new, Wood and Alders will fetch it quick, just keep calm okay? Don't scream, the more attention you bring, the more work you make for us understand?"

The voice wasn't angry or confrontational, simply matter of fact and somewhat sympathetic, though not as friendly as the first voice. Still Harry calmed down, taking his mouth away from his hand. "Yes sir."

He tilted his head up to look at the man, his hair falling back from his forehead for a moment and both men gasped. "Harry Potter!" said the one whose name hadn't been mentioned yet. "Well I guess that explains it then, though why were you trying to apparate?"

"Who's he staying with anyway?" said George scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Headmaster Dumbledore never said, no matter what the Wizengamot tried to threaten him with. All he would say was that he was safe, remember?"

At that moment there were two more pops and two more men appeared, one of them holding Harry's missing hand gingerly. Harry was astonished to note that the hand and his own arm looked as if they were simply taken apart like a Lego toy, there was no blood or pus or anything!

"Here's the lad's hand." said one of them, a large man with bull shoulders and a Scottish accent. "Poor bugger."

"What's wrong Wood?"

The man so addressed didn't respond just yet. Instead he moved through the other men, kneeling down in front of Harry. "We're you bein' bullied laddie?"

Harry hesitantly nodded his head and the man nodded back. He turned back to look up at the other man even as he held out his missing hand to Harry, pushing it against the stump of his wrist while addressing the men all around."There were four brats bigger than this young'un all of them holding rocks, and shouting out how 'the freak' went and disappeared on them at the initial locus."He said his tone grim. "Some blood on the wall of the alleyway they were standing intoo. They get you anywhere laddie?"

"My, my shoulder sir."Answered Harry hesitantly.

"Ach well,we'll deal with your hand first then your shoulder. By the by, is this the first time this has happened?"

"What do you mean Sir?"

"The bullying laddie." Scottish man said, holding Harry's arm gently while another man ran what looked like some kind of stick, or maybe a wand like in the books he'd been reading, along the arm there.

"Flex your hand and fingers for a bit, we need to know if it's connected right?" The man with the wand, George, said. Watching as Harry did so he smiled. "Good, now flex your wrist."Harry did so, and both men smiled. "Good, now for the shoulder."

Over Harry's feeble protests his shirt was removed, causing hissing among the men as they saw his back. Harry always tried to curl up into a ball whenever Vernon began to beat on him, and his back had almost always taken the majority of the damage. As such he had scars that crisscrossed his back, many from a belt buckle or belt, some from a poker, some from Vernon's fists opening up the skin on his back.

"W-what, by Merlin, Morgana and Maeve, what is this?" said one of them, one of the two that hadn't been named. "This is Harry-ruddy-Potter damn it! Who in their right mind would, would do that to him!"

The one called George simply methodically healed Harry's shoulder then said something Harry couldn't understand before running his wand over Harry's back, frowning as a light at the wand's tip changed from blue to red. "This is all so old I don't think I can reverse it." He said, shaking his head.

"That's abuse that is!" said the one called Wood, standing up at and glowering around at the others, giving off the impression of a volcano that was about to erupt. While Harry pulled on his shirt, he tried to make himself smaller, knowing nothing good ever came from this much attention.

"Oh dear." said an elderly voice, from behind the crowd of men. "This is a problem."

"Professor!" Said one man turning and staring as Harry did the same at a man who looked as if he was Merlin come to life from a few pictures of him Harry had seen in various picture books about King Arthur. Though upon reflection, Harry felt that Merlin would not wear a bright green robe with pink polka dots on it.

"I applaud you for your quick reaction time gentlemen, it's such a sad state of affairs when bullying gets out of hand among young boys isn't it?Now, I will take it from here and take young Harry back to his family, and have a stern talking to with them and with the youths in question."

At this three of the men nodded their heads somberly, willing to entrust this newcomer with Harry's safety for some reason Harry didn't understand given how they'd acted before the others however Wood sounded angry as he confronted the old man. "Headmaster wha' is goin' on here!" He said pointing angrily down at Harry who flinched a little at the finger. "This isn't a case of bullyin', this is…"

By that time the old man had stepped in amongst the man, and Harry watched as a wand appeared in his hand faster than Harry could blink. The wand looked different from the other two Harry had seen so far. It had little bumps along its length, which looked almost like knuckles sort of or lumps on a tree. Before any of the men could do anything, he intoned "Obliviate!" and Harry knew no more.

 **OOOOOOO**

Harry looked around his cupboard, trying to remember how he came to be there for a moment before he remembered that he had hurried home, which was odd since he never used the word 'home' to think about Privet Drive. He fixed dinner and then moved into his cupboard, though for some reason his mind seemed to try and supply the word 'room' for a moment before being taken over by reality.

Though the reason for his desire to enter his cupboard so quickly escaped Harry. He had a niggling impression that he had thought of something he wanted to read, but Harry didn't have any books, the school library didn't let book go home unless the family paid a fee, and the Dursleys would never do that. And he couldn't get a library card without his guardian's okay.

Shrugging, Harry simply decided he must've wanted to go over his notes from class for some reason, and pulled his small dingy backpack open pulling out his very tattered notebook. Reading through the last few pages however Harry frowned. _Has someone been into my notebook?_

There were notes there that Harry didn't remember making, but as Harry looked at him, he saw they were in his handwriting! _Why would I do that, I don't have enough room in here to waste on imaginings, and they're in pen too! I can't even erase them!_ Harry scowled angrily throwing the notebook down onto his bed, shaking his head in leaning against the wall of his cupboard. But his eyes kept on going back to the notes, as he tried to work out why in the world he would've done that.

He couldn't remember doing it, which was another odd thing. Harry knew he had a decent enough memory, certainly better than Dudley's, or indeed any of the other students in his class. Once he wrote down something himself, he remembered it. _Why'd I do that?_ He thought scowling angrily. _And in pen too!_

Yet his eyes continued to stray to it, until finally he sighed. _All right, there's an easy way of checking to see if this is anything but some weird craziness that I can't remember._

That evening Harry snuck into the bathroom and stared at himself then down at the notes before staring back up into his image in the mirror. He concentrated, and after only a few seconds he watched in shock as his hair began to change color.

 _It really does get easier over time then!_ With that thought in mind Harry quickly made his way back to his cupboard, turned on the hanging light and began to read the notes he had made avidly.

A few hours later Harry was still awake, frowning in thought as his finger tapped the word 'magic' among his notes, where it had been underlined and even circled. He'd read through his notes several times, and felt he understood what he'd been doing, but one thing continued to bother him. _How did I forget about it?_

Harry worried at that problem for several minutes without coming to a solution, however a sudden thought came to him as he looked down at one of the first notes, which read 'could the Dursleys know about this, is that why?' _If that's so_ Harry thought, _then could other people know? But if so, how would they have made_ _ **me**_ _forget about all this?_

After a moment he came up with a solution that to his young yet intelligent mind made sense. _There could be other magic users around. And I suppose there could be spells dealing with the mind, though if so, could there be magics against that kind of thing too? But, but why wouldn't someone want me to know?_

Sighing, he put that thought aside. _Too little information, nothing I can do about that_. _But, if they don't want me to know about magic, what does that mean? Could they want me to be normal, or could they just want me to be weak?_ Harry was used to people wanting him to be weak, the Dursleys did everything they could to beat him down. This was the first time that Harry thought there might actually be a reason behind it, rather than just something about him that set them off.

Once that thought began, there was no stopping it. _The Dursleys said my parents died in a car crash, but what if they didn't, what if they had enemies, and what if those enemies are now looking for me?Then magic might be the only way to fight against them._ Harry's face firmed in a way that a young just turned 10-year-old boy's face, no matter how intelligent or adult he had to act at times, should have been able to.

 _But does that mean that the Dursleys are either enemies, or are simply pawns like in chess?_ Shrugging his shoulders on that, Harry realized that either spelled trouble for him if they found out that he knew about his magic.

He decided to go through his notes again, trying to figure out what bit of experimentation had alerted whoever it was that had taken his memories. After a moment he stopped, frowning. S _o I moved from trying to do something with my hair to, to teleportation? That's a huge leap! But teleportation doesn't have a lot of notes here. So that must've been what alerted whoever it was._

 _But if what I can do is really magic, why would be limited to just stuff I can do with my hair or teleportation? Magic isn't limited, that's part of what makes it magic, right?_ With that thought in mind Harry grinned, but then took out a pen and wrote a very small message to himself just in case. 'Yes these pen messages are from you, no you are not crazy, signed Harry Potter,' and the date afterwards.

With that done Harry spent the rest of the night writing down thoughts of what he could do with magic. It wasn't a very long list, but the list of things he **wanted** to do with magic was. In particular one was underlined. That note said 'figure out a way to hide your notebook.'

If whoever it was that had taken his memories came back and they found out about his notebook somehow then he'd lose all of his work. That had to be stopped, and that didn't even include Dudley. He routinely messed with Harry's stuff, especially his school stuff just because he could.

Harry spent the next two few days spending all of his free time in the library going through every book that had magic in it, the Sword in the Stone, Island of the Mighty, the Prydain chronicles, though he did have some trouble with that one, and many, many more. He even tried his hand at some of the older teen books, including some Terry Pratchett books.

Feeling greatly daring Harry also tried one of the nearby comic stores, despite it being one of Dudley's main hangouts. He had to run away from another bout of Harry Hunting after that, but was able to get away cleanly.

One idea that stuck out with him was that wizards in many books could make themselves unseen. The most interesting was Granny Weatherwax's, which was a sort of 'uninteresting field' that she could project, simply becoming part of the background. It didn't seem to stand up to a lot of exercise or something of that nature, but Harry felt that had a lot of potential for hiding his notebook.

That evening Harry once again spent a sleepless night staring down at his notebook, somehow trying to force to become invisible or unnoticeable. It didn't work. Sighing, he laid it beside his school books before reaching up to the hanging light. Only to stop, staring from the school books to the notebook. "If I can't make it unnoticeable, could I disguise it?"

The next day at school Dudley finally cornered Harry for the first time in days. He knocked Harry down from behind, spilling all of his school stuff out of his bag. "Watch where you're going Potter!"

He laughed, stepping forward to break several of Harry's pencils as he walked through the clutter, reaching down quickly to pick up a book. He frowned however when he noticed that it had the school stamp on it and with a huff threw it down again. Ms. Hicks was hell on anyone who damaged her priceless books, and Dudley had learned that she was one of the teachers that actually listened to the freak for some wouldn't be worth it to do anything to a school book.

Just then one of his friends shouted at him from the cafeteria entrance. "They've got pizza Dudley, come on!"

Dudley raced off as fast as his pudgy legs could carry him, while behind him Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He picked up his notebook, the cover and spine of which he had changed to look like a book from the school, a picture bookthe class had been reading lately.

Harry bent down to pick up his stuff while all around him the other students of the school moved around him with the ease of long practice, some of them even snickering while others simply shook their heads. Harry however allowed himself a small smile. _It worked!_

Over the next few weeks Harry began to experiment, doing small little things to see what was possible and what wasn't. Of course when he noted what wasn't he simply put down 'yet'. The books he'd read that all dealt with magic were so wide and varied he was unwilling to say that anything was impossible with it. He also got far better at changing his hair color, though he still couldn't do anything about its normal scruffy appearance.

Eventually he even could do things with his clothes, though that was much harder. After the first time where he had changed how his clothes looked, their colors and the shape of them, he almost collapsed from exhaustion. That was an important learning experience: that magic took something out of him. His change of clothes and hair however was worth it because they allowed Harry to move around the neighborhood in relative safety for the first time since Dudley and his friends wouldn't mess with a child they didn't know.

That kind of thing brought trouble, as it had the one time they tried it with an exchange student, who did not only fight back, but blabbed to his parents. _Those were good few days,_ Harry thought to himself as he remembered them. Dudley, Vernon and Petunia were all walking on egg shells, because apparently the transfer student was the son of some army man who'd just gotten medically discharged. But it faded after a while when that family moved away to a better area, and things went back to normal.

With his new looks Harry explored areas where he hadn't dared to go before for fear of Dudley and his gang, in particular the nearby park, which backed a small but overgrown national park. In there Harry found an area where no one could see him, and he began to use that place for some of his experiments, continuing to keep his notes as he went as well as he could.

From changing how things looked or their size he moved on to levitating things, which was surprisingly **much** easier. Harry reasoned that changing something was much harder than simply moving its place in the world. He started with one small pebble, then graduated from that into four small pebbles, holding them up at the same time, then moving them around each in a different way. It was hard, and it really strained his mental muscles, but even so afterwards Harry felt elated, somewhat tired, but not as much as that first time he'd changed the way his clothes looked.

Over the next few months after that, Harry's experiments got more and more varied. He learned that emotions powered the spells somewhat at one point when he began his experiments after a particularly ugly bout of teasing from Dudley and Vernon when he hadn't been allowed to escape into his cupboard after fixing them dinner. When Harry, entering his cupboard saw his little stones piled into a corner he scowled angrily at them, and then waved his hand hard, not expecting anything to really happen because he wasn't concentrating very much.

When the stones zoomed off away from that corner into the other one with small 'spang' sounded as they hit the wall he gasped in shock. The sight also calmed down somewhat, and he frowned. "Emotions," he mused to himself, then moved over to sit down. From that point he decided to experiment a bit with the emotions, though not much.

That was because when he tried to use anger again, he found it more difficult to control himself afterwards, and decided that that experiment was one area he didn't want to go got angry all the time at the smallest of things from Harry's point of view, and he always took that anger out on Harry. Harry did not want to be like Vernon in any way, shape or form.

On the other hand, happiness also seemed to be able to power certain spells, though the effect was **weird**. When he was levitating his pebbles, gesturing with one hand as he sometimes did because that helped him concentrate, he brought to mind the feelings of joy that he'd felt when he first realized that the notes about magic in his notebook were real. Instead of powering the spell however, making the task easier or perhaps even making the stones fly up higher, a silvery sheen began to appear around him, but it only lasted for a few moments before Harry collapsed into exhaustion.

When he came to a few moments later he shook his head groggily. "All right, so anger is easier, but harder to control, and happiness, maybe good feelings in general, are harder to use but their effect is weird." He grinned to himself for a moment then pulled out his trusty notebook. "You learn new things every day."

 **OOOOOOO**

Months went by like this, with Harry becoming better and better at controlling his magic, and with certain things becoming easier and easier. _It's like a muscle,_ Harry thought to himself more than once. _The more you use it, the easier it becomes._ Where before he had only been able to levitate four pebbles, each the size of his pinky, now he was levitating four far larger stones, each the size of his before Harry had trouble concentrating for very long, that too had become easier.

 _If only I could do something permanent about my hair but that seems beyond me so far_ , he thought to himself, stopping in a small hidden alcove by the Park entrance right behind where it became the normal park area to change back into normal Harry. Clothing he could change for a few hours before they began to change back, but his hair always went back to normal quickly if he stopped thinking about it. Once his clothes and hair were back to normal Harry hurried home, eager to get his chores over with and head into the cupboard before Vernon got home.

Today that plan didn't work. The moment the door opened Petunia grabbed his shoulder and hustled him into the kitchen smacking him upside the head for emphasis. "About time you got home you lousy layabout, get to work on dinner! Vernon had an important meeting today, and I want everything pristine and perfect for when he gets home is that understood!" She emphasized every word with a smack on the head, but Harry took it stoically. At least she wasn't using a frying pan as she had on more than one occasion.

"Yes Aunt Petunia." He answered dutifully. "What exactly would you like?"

"Fried chicken, gravy and potatoes! Good, hearty food. Now get to work. Honestly, with all we've given up to put clothes on your back!" With that she hurried off, heading up the stairs.

Harry shook his head sadly watching her go. He honestly didn't know if the Dursleys were his enemies or not, but they certainly hated him. Yet for some reason he just couldn't find it in himself to hate them back. They were just so, so pitiful! So happy to keep going in their normal, small lives, so certain in their worldview that they couldn't even understand that someone else could see the world differently. It was so **small** of them that though he loathed and feared them, he couldn't hate them, instead pitying them.

He smirked to himself even as he moved over towards the freezer. _Of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop working on my magic and as soon as I can figure out a way to get the hell out of here!_ That was the dream that had powered a lot of his investigations into magic: the idea that he would eventually be able to get away from the Dursleys.

He knew he wouldn't be able to do it quickly. After all, if someone else with magic was his enemy, he couldn't really use magic all the time to get away from them, or else he might draw their attention back to him. But even so, he could use it as a starting point, which was why he was so frustrated about his hair.

Over the next hour or so Harry busied himself cooking, finding a certain sense of peace in the task, which he always did. Despite the fact that he never got to eat most of the food he made, there was something soothing about going about his business, knowing that none of the others in the house would dare bother him while he did it.

That serenity ended the moment Vernon got home. Harry could almost feel it in the air even before the man trooped in. The screech of the tires as he drove into the garage, the sharp slam of the car door, told Harry that something had happened at work and Vernon was once again angry. _And it's a Friday,_ Harry thought, his heart sinking. _Oh please, just this once, let him have found some other outlet for his anger._

Petunia and Dudley could sense it too, remaining quiet throughout dinner as Vernon bellowed about some topic or other on the news, angrily masticating his food as he stared at Harry who he'd ordered to remain in one of the kitchen corners glaring at him hatefully. Worse he drank heavily, which was never a good sign for Harry.

He was almost tempted to bolt for his cupboard now. Once he was inside his cupboard Vernon rarely went to the effort of opening it and dragging him out to beat him. But the way Vernon's attention kept on coming back to him throughout the 'conversation' meant that would be a very bad idea.

Finally Petunia broached the subject that had been on her mind almost visibly the entire dinner. "So dear, did you…"

"No I bloody well did not!" Vernon bellowed angrily, slamming his fat hands down on the table and getting up explosively fast for all of his bulk such was his anger. "We didn't impress the client enough with our 'character', whatever the bloody-fuck that means!" Vernon growled turning and throwing his beer bottle at Harry.

The beer bottle hit his head causing him to fall to the ground with a cry. "It's all your damn fault! Ever since we took you in all you've done is suck the energy out of my life!" Vernon bellowed, moving over to him and kicking the down Harry repeatedly. "I've been stuck in that one job, have never been able to go higher, always passed over! Your freakishness rubbing off on me, making other people look down on me!"

Harry screamed and cried as the blows kept on coming, and they didn't stop anytime soon. By the time Vernon was finished venting his anger on Harry, Harry knew that his arms were broken from where he had been holding them above his head, his head was bleeding severely from where it had been caught by the beer bottle, and his back was a mass of bruises.

He cried out as Vernon grabbed him by the shoulder roughly dragging him through the house and throwing him into the cupboard. "Freaks like you don't deserve more! You can stay in there until Monday or rot, I don't care which!"

Harry lay on the floor of his cupboard groaning aloud. He'd never been able to figure out how to accelerate his healing, he couldn't control his magic that much. Now though, his mind was consumed by a single thought. _I have to get out of here! Anywhere somewhere else anywhere else but here._ With pain fueled concentration Harry began to bring his magic to bear on that wish, pouring all of his willpower all of his magic into it. _They'll kill me eventually if I stay here any longer, have to go have to get away, need to find a real home, need to find a real family!_

Suddenly as he was concentrating on his own magic, it connected to something else, something magical around the house. Harry had no idea what it was, he could barely sense it, but as his own magic powers began to fade he grasped this new source of energy, sucking it dry in a single moment to power his pain and grief and fear fueled wish. _**Get me away from here!**_

With a loud clap of sound the cupboard was suddenly empty, leaving only the faintest trail of Harry's blood on the ground as Harry Potter disappeared from not only Number 4 Privet Drive, not just from the United Kingdom, but Earth entirely.

 **OOOOOOO**

At the same time that Harry disappeared, or actually right before that when his magic instinctively reached out to that other nearby source to drain it dry, a small silvery object on a high shelf began to whistle and tweet on a shelf in a castle somewhere in the mores of Scotland. An elderly man, looked up in sudden alarm. This was the same man that had appeared to take his memories away as well as those of the men who had helped Harry after his teleportation accident, though Harry couldn't remember anything from the incident.

Moving with far more speed than a man his apparent age should be able to, he pushed himself away from his desk rounding it quickly and moving over to the number of devices and odd gewgaws that lined the shelf. Before he could get there however the small device that had initially whistled a warning suddenly shattered, flinging small shards of silver everywhere.

Quickly the man raised a hand and a shimmering energy field appeared in front of him. The shards of the explosion smacked into it falling harmlessly to the ground, and then the shield dissipated. After the last of the pieces fell to the floor the man pulled out his wand from one of his many pockets, running it over the devices while frowning. Turning he stared at a large bird with fiery plumage sitting on one shelf. "Fawkes to me." He ordered crisply.

The bird obeyed alighting on his shoulder, and a second later the office was empty. Seconds later he appeared without even the slightest hint of sound in the Dursleys backyard. With a single gesture from his wand, the man disappeared from anyone's normal senses, while the bird alighted on a nearby tree.

Looking around him he moved quickly to one of the corners of the garden, then gasped before hurrying to each of the other corners. In each corner he found the same thing, a small flat stone, crumbling quickly to dust. They had previously been so well hidden no one would have been able to find them, but that didn't matter now. The old man stood up from the last corner, and if anyone had been there to see, they would have noticed how his eyes seemed to gleam with unnatural light as he looked around him in consternation and growing worry.

 _The wards are gone! Not just the blood wards, but the unplottable and anti-mail wards! And not just gone, the very magic that made them has been somehow drained! But how could that be?! As long as the boy lives here the blood wards should still be viable and taking power from him, and I have never heard of anything that could simply drain magic from wards like that, not so quickly at any rate._

Resolutely the old man moving to Number 4's backdoor and without a pause teleporting through it easily after a single glance through it's window. He made to move past Petunia who was cleaning up dinner muttering angrily about the 'freak jinxing them', which caused the old man to frown even more, pausing in his steps.

He looked around the house, his frown turning into a scowl when he didn't see a single thing that showed there was a second boy living here. All the pictures on the wall were of a boy and a man who resembled one another strongly and the woman in front of him.

None of them showed the young boy he had seen so many months ago after that irritating incident. _What is going on here? Where is the boy?_ Wanting an answer to that question, he lifted his wand, pointing it's tip at Petunia. "Immobulous!"

The woman stilled instantly, but before she could do more than gasp, another spell hit her. "Silencio! Now Petunia, let us see what has been going on here…" With that the old man moved her around from the sink to where he could glare into her eyes over his small spectacles.

After a moment he pulled back, his scowl much more pronounced as he moved off, leaving her where she was for a moment. Quickly he opened the cupboard he had seen in Petunia's memories, looking inside and gritting his teeth angrily at the blood.

Staring at the cupboard he made a small gesture with his wand. The air inside the cupboard shimmered for a moment in glaring pink and white light, so much he blinked in shock. _Signs of an apparition, but it also looks uncontrolled. Could the boy have attempted another blind jump? But then where would he have gone, and what happened to the blood wards?_ He began to wave his wand again, but most of what he got was flooded out by the magical residue of the apparition. _Some uncontrolled magic, that's to be expected, but… I can't get anything else here blast it, the apparition residue is too powerful!_

 _With that thought, the man moved out of the cupboard, standing upright with a creak from his knees and back. Still, even that tells me something. Such a powerful residue could only have been made by a long distance jump. But how long a distance is the question, I've never seen such a powerful splash before…_

With a sigh, he moved back over to Petunia, scowling angrily at the woman as he glared into her frightened yet belligerent eyes. "I left your nephew here thinking that you and your husband would abuse him somewhat, but this, this is too far by half! Forcing a boy as young as seven to cook for you, constant beatings? There is treating him as an unwanted guest, and then there is outright cruelty! And now, because of you and your family the boy has run off to who knows where and the blood wards are gone, nothing I can do could bring them back!"

Something in the woman's eyes told him she was happy the boy was gone, and the man smiled thinly behind his beard. "Well Petunia, if the boy is no longer here, then the money your family received to take care of him is no longer required." The woman paled slightly even immobilized, an interesting feat, though her pallor continued to worsen as the man went on. "If you are very lucky I will not be forced to share the news of what happened here with anyone else. If word gets out that you abused my world's savior, well…" he shrugged eloquently. "The so-called 'freakishness' the boy was responsible for will be the least of your worries."

"Goodbye Petunia, I do hope nothing happens to you and your family because of this night's business…" With that Albus walked off, only cancelling the spells on Petunia only as Fawkes alighted on his shoulder. By the time the woman had enough breath to scream, he was gone.

Back in the castle in Scotland, the man sat down at the desk, writing out a short message which he handed to Fawkes. The bird disappeared with it, and the man stood up, gathering up the small devices that had been on the same shelf as the one that had exploded. Waving his wand over them, he scowled as none of them responded as he expected them to.

After a moment he shook his head, speaking aloud to the empty room. "Not one of them working, which means that all of my tracking spells on the boy are gone. Could they have been drained like the blood wards, or did something else happen there? Still, there are other ways to find him."

He stared off into the distance, thinking hard, then tapping his fingers together. _Still if I cannot find him, there needs to be both a scapegoat, and a secondary plan. The scapegoat, or rather scapegoats will be simple enough. But the secondary plan, that might prove more difficult._

After a moment he got up again, moving to pick up a large piece of blank parchment, stuffed into a book on a shelf as if it was being used as a bookmark. He tapped it with a finger, intoning "All I do is for the Greater Good."

A second later the parchment was no longer blank but filled with scrawls, some kind of mathematical formula filling up half of it, and several notes in different languages filling the rest of it. After a moment the man nodded, smiling thinly. _Three to four years then until he is strong enough to do anything. And I cannot imagine any of his servants would go in search of him, not any of the ones free anyway, good. That gives me time to see if I can find the boy, and also to prepare a replacement if I cannot._

With that in mind, he gestured with his wand and a small silvery bird that resembled Fawkes appeared. "Minerva, could I speak to you for a moment please, something has come up." With that the silvery creature shot off, passing through the door at the far end of the room.

For a few minutes the man bustled around the room, filling up a small bag with far more things than it should have been able to hold. He stopped however as a faint ting echoed in the room. Working his face for a moment he assumed a sad expression. "Come in Minerva."

The door opened revealing a tallish woman in a tartan green robe. She was a somewhat elderly woman, possibly just out of middle aged, with a stern face that made her seem older and wearing a witch's hat on her head. "You wanted to speak with me Albus?"

Albus smiled at her wanly. "Yes Minerva, I hate to do this to you but I'm afraid I will not be here for the next few months. As such you'll have to handle any of Hogwarts paperwork that needs doing. I fear a friend from Asia who I have corresponded with for many decades is dying and I wish to do what I can to make his final days as happy and comfortable as possible."

Even while Minerva gave him her condolences, Albus was already making plans to see if he could find Harry Potter, thinking of the places he would have to visit and the rituals he would have to do to pick up his trail. Yet for all the effort Albus would put into it, his search would be in vain.

 **OOOOOOO**

Harry hadn't really used a spell to teleport away from his cupboard since even if he knew one he couldn't have concentrated enough on it to do anything. It had simply been a blind, all-encompassing need to get away as far away as possible. In response to this soul deep wish his magic had gone haywire somewhat, grasping the blood wards and draining them to further power Harry's own magic, shattering something inside of him at the same time to hurl him further away from his starting point. But this was magic, and magic was tricky. So he was transported much, much further than anyone would ever have expected.

Magic was not as easy as even practiced practitioners thought however, there was always a price, and regardless of the wished powering the barely formed magic, Harry should have died, the magic sucking him dry just like the wards. Yet there was more than just Harry involved, more than just his inbuilt magic, or even the magic of the blood wards. There was also the power of prophecy, not just one prophecy, but many. Not just on earth, but several others, some darker, some lighter.

The Powers-That-Be rarely involved themselves in the doings of mortals, no matter how powerful. Prophecies were how they tried to shape those mortals' steps, and they did even that very rarely. Primarily because it was like setting a small stone loose onto a gigantic pond, you could never predict how the ripples would move, effecting one another and the water around them in unusual ways. Yet sometimes, there came a chance to change things that was just too good to pass up. So it was now.

And in Harry's case there was also something else there to be taken. Something else to balance the scales and allow him, if he so choose to return to life. But even then, he had to be given the choice.

Harry woke to a feeling of someone running their fingers through his hair gently. There was someone humming softly nearby while his head was laying on something soft and warm. He had never felt the like before. No one had ever touched him like this except for a few of the teachers occasionally. He opened his eyes quickly, trying to get away, but found his body wouldn't obey his commands.

Even so the humming stopped and a gentle hand touched his cheek. "Easy Harry,"said a female voice. "Don't move just yet." The voice sounded scratchy with disuse, yet there was also something in it that told Harry that the user had been crying.

With great effort, Harry opened his eyes and looked up into a young woman's face. She looked in her early 20's, if that. Her face was gorgeous, better looking than any woman he'd ever seen outside TV shows, though he'd be at a loss as to explain why. She had red hair cascading down her shoulders and emerald green eyes, a shade that Harry had only previously seen in the mirror, though on the woman they were red rimmed and tear-streaked. The woman's face looked as if she had been dealing with tremendous grief for years, and the smile she wore as she stared down at Harry was happy, yet fragile and almost scared.

Harry didn't understand why she would be scared of him. "Who…" he paused faltering as his eyes locked on hers."I, I know you…" he said, trying to lift a hand to touch the woman's face. He wasn't even able to lift his hand more than an inch, but somehow the woman guessed what he wanted and reached down, picking up his hand from where it had been flopping and brought it to her cheek, nuzzling into his palm. "I know you..." he said again, his fingers twitching against her cheek."But, but how?"

"I'm your mother Harry, Lily, Lily Potter nee Evans." The woman said softly watching him with trepidation. She feared that he would immediately flinch away from her, reject her because of the life he had led.

But Lily needn't have worried. For all the hate he had seen in his life, for all the loathing and fear and disgust that the Dursleys he aped on him, Harry had only wanted one thing: to be loved. And that was the emotion he saw in this woman's face as she stared down at him in, he was slowly realizing, her lap. His own eyes began to brim with tears not of sadness but joy."M, mum?"

With a cry the woman leaned down, burying her head into his chest as her arms went around him where he lay on her lap. Harry tried his best to return the hug, but he was so **weak**! This was 60 or 70 times worse than the first time he tried to change how his clothes looked. But even so, Harry was too happy to care he couldn't move, simply basking in one of his dreams come to life all around him.

The moment was too emotional to last, and yet it lasted more than long enough for Harry, who was beaming up at the woman through his own tears. "But, but how! Petunia said you died in a car crash! How did you really die? I know that isn't how, but why, I mean…"

"Calmly Harry." Lily replied, leaning back up and staring off into the distance for a moment before she turned to look down at him again, a widesmile on her face now that her son had accepted her. "There is **so much** I need to tell you! I don't know how long we have though. I've been allowed back to talk to you because of what you did and because of… of other things. You see there is a prophecy, there was a prophecy before you were even born about…"

Lily paused shaking her head. "No, that's not the way the right place to start. Your father and I were magic users Harry as you've discovered."Suddenly the smile on her face widened into a grin of pure joy as she reached down hugging him again pulling him up so that his head rested against her chest rather than in her lap. "My little scientist, I was so proud of you when you began your experiments!"

Harry blushed a little, both in pleasure and embarrassment. His mother was a very good-looking woman after all, and though he hadn't actually noticed it before she was wearing some kind of skintight leotard thing, but all in white. Weird.

Above him Lily noticed Harry's uncomfortable this and smiled sadly. "Sorry love, I know this is making you uncomfortable, but I wasn't actually dressed my best when I died, and you can't change your clothing after you die, or are sent back or whatever, I'm not exactly clear what I am right now." She smirked a little, gesturing down at her body. "Your father had fun tastes, shall we say?"

"Too much information." Harry muttered, trying to raise his hands to cover his ears, but still not having enough energy to do so. Even so, despite his consternation he reveled in the light tinkling tone of his mother's laughter.

"You're right I suppose." She smirked even wider. "Now if this was happening while you were going through puberty I wouldn't let you go with just that."

"Still, we have more important things to talk about." She went on more seriously even as Harry squirmed in her hug. "We were both magic users, but the magical world is separate from the muggle world, the non-magical world, and yet some of the problems in it are sort of the same is in the human world. Do you know what racism is?"

Harry nodded and Lily smiled. "Of course you do, my bright son, so smart!" With that she hugged him again, and Harry's smile widened as he reveled in the love of his mother..

She pulled away after a moment, staring down at him. "Anyway, there was a movement among what is known as purebloods, who felt that magic should only follow family lines. That's so much idiocy in my opinion, but I was born to non-magical parents. I was also very intelligent, if I say it myself. I was called the brightest which of my generation." She smirked a little. Not that it was hard against most of the pureblood witches and wizards. There were a few that were quite intelligent, but they were still stuck in, well they didn't understand the scientific method, or how it could be applied to magic. You've used a bit of it since he discovered magic Harry, testing and the ability to keep notes and see what works what doesn't and what works better."

Harry nodded then froze in his mother's grip when he realized what that meant. "Does, does that mean you've, you've been watching me?"

Lily nodded somberly, reaching with one hand from Harry's back to stroke his hair in a calming gesture. "Yes Harry, I've watched you all for your life, and I am so, so sorry! You should **never** have gone to my sister, the moment she married that Vernon pig, she was removed from my will, and they were never in Jame's! But well, I don't know what happened, I haven't been able to watch anything of the world aside from you, so…" she shrugged.

"I have enemies in the magical world." Harry said calmly, far too calmly for a 10-year-old boy talking about such a serious matter in Lily's opinion, but given the life he'd led it was almost inevitable. Indeed the fact he had accepted her so easily was more surprising. "I've sort of known that, though I don't know **why**!"

"I'm getting to that though I think you should keep that in mind. Anyway, I married what was known as a pureblood, your father James Potter." Lily smiled wanly. "We were happy, even if he was a bit of a jackass when he was younger he grew out of it eventually and became a decent man. I could tell you some stories, but I don't know if we have time for them. Anyway, there was this war on, and your father became a magical policeman, an Auror right out of school, while I went to work as a spell researcher."

Harry's eyes brightened and he opened his mouth to speak but Lily laughed gaily, before covering his mouth with a gentle finger. "I know Harry, and I wish we had more time, I really do, your ability to control what should've been only accidental magic is astonishing especially without a focus, and turns a lot of the research I was working from on his head. But don't know if we have time for that. So back to business."

After that Lily went on much more crisply. "You have to understand that the racists were in power in a lot of the government, oh there were factions fighting against them, and quite a few of the magical policeman fell under that category." Her smile widened, taking on an almost vicious edge. Your father had a friend named Sirius, and the two of them had a partner named Rufus Scrimgouer. They and their team leader were some of the most dangerous Aurors on the force. Because of that they were being targeted by, I suppose you could call him a cult leader, or a terrorist leader anyway."

"He'd taken on this name though we never figured out his real name…" Lily paused again as she realized was rambling. She took a moment to compose herself and went on. "The racists had a leader named Voldemort, who espoused violence against anyone who was not pureblood, against anyone frankly who was a danger to his taking over. I don't even know if he really believed in that pureblood stuff or was simply using it, he seemed more power-hungry than bigoted."

"In any event since the government couldn't be trusted both your father and I joined a sort of paramilitary group. We did our part, and I even fought several times, though I wasn't as good at it as your father." She smirked suddenly, waggling her figures a little. "Though spell creation did give me a bit of an edge, since most wizards are lazy and tend to stick to only a few spells in combat."

"The Order was led by one of the most famous men in the magical community, named Albus Dumbledore. He was our headmaster at school, and yes…" she said smiling down at Harry when he opened his mouth. "There is a school of magic, several actually though your own studies have either turned some of the noted theories on their heads or simply ignored them." She went on much more softly leaning down to kiss him on the forehead right over his scar. "My little genius."

Harry flushed with pleasure, and Lily leaned back, stroking his hair again as she continued to hold him to her chest. Harry felt some of his strength returning, and tried to raise his arms to hug her back, but was only able to squeeze her arms lightly despite his best efforts. Even so, Lily smiled down at him, and that was enough.

After a moment however she shook her head and went back to business. "There was a prophecy, and in the magical world those things are taken **very** seriously. Albus believed it, and convince your father and I to go into hiding."

She frowned then remembering those months, and Harry lifted one hand touch her cheek gently pulling her back to the here and now. "Anyway, we agreed to it, fearing what would happen to you."

"What was the prophecy?" Harry asked intently.

"'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...' (Order of the Phoenix)" Lily intoned solemnly.

She watched as Harry frowned his way through it then smiled as he said "but that sounds, that almost sounds like you have to believe it to make it exist, he'd have to mark me right?"

"The word you're looking for is self-fulfilling, and yes that was one of my arguments against it, but there were signs that Voldemort was a firm believer in prophecy long before that. And if he believed it, whether or not we believe it wouldn't matter." Harry nodded understanding her point, and Lily went on. "And he did mark you that night," she said softly, brushing his hair off his cigar and tapping it gently.

"What," Harry paused then went on gamely. "What happened that night?"

He felt Lily shudder, her hands tightening around him. "I, I don't want to talk about it just yet. Maybe if we had more time I would, but not now. In any event, he did more than give you that scar Harry. In fact, if he hadn't done what he did, and if everything else had happened as it did, you would have joined me on the other side."

"Wait!" Harry exclaimed, almost pushing out of her grip before his strength failed him again and he fell against her chest. He flushed in embarrassment for a moment before shaking his head. "You mean we're **not** in the afterlife?"

"No, we're in… call it the waiting room I suppose, the area between life and death. The amount of power you poured into your wish should have cost you your life Harry, but I as I said Voldemort did more than just give you that scar. He left a bit of his soul in you."

With gentle hands, Lily turned Harry until he was staring off to the side, and he gasped in shock. Everything around them was white and seemingly blank, even the floor they were sitting on wasn't really there, just more grey, almost like sitting inside and on a crowd. But now Harry was able to see something that was so out of place it was beyond jarring. It was looking nothing more than a mass of black pus, oozing darkness and vileness into the air all around it. "W-what is it?!"

"A piece of Voldemort's soul," Lily replied. "I'm not certain if he meant to, or if it was something he had been doing all along, but he cut a bit of his soul off when he tried to kill you. That piece stuck to you when the power of his killing curse spell backfired on him."

Harr shook his head. "Wait, I, I don't understand. First of all, what is a killing curse, and what do you mean it bounced off me? I was a baby, I couldn't do anything!"

"For that you have me and your father to blame."Lily replied, solemnly her arms still around her son.

"To thank you mean, if you say this Voldemort person…"

"If we hadn't died, if we had somehow figured out a way out you wouldn't have gone to the **Dursleys**!" Lily snarled that name. "We should've figured out some kind of emergency teleportation that could bypass any ward put up!"

After a moment Harry reached up and touched her face again. "A lot of books use this phrase, hindsight is 20/20, I don't know what the 20/20 part means, but I've been told that it means looking back you always see more than when things are actually happening. We're not all perfect, and I don't blame you for the Dursleys." His eyes hardened noticeably. "I blame them for being them, and for whoever ignored your will and put me there."

"Yes, that's an interesting point…" Lily said to mostly to herself, even as she hugged her son in thanks for his forgiveness. "Anyway, the Potters had a massive collection of books about ancient spells, including some about things that were no longer allowed in society, like blood based magics. When I sacrificed my life for you, I completed a charm which protected you from all harm."

"A, And the killing curse?" Harry asked.

"I'm not going to talk about that right now."Lily said shaking her head sadly. "You'll learn that in due time I suppose, I'm sorry but even now the memories are just too raw."

Harry nodded, understanding. "So that thing over there is a piece of this Voldemort and it's going to die in my place?"

"Well that is the other side of what I'm here just tell you. You see, you have a choice. All of life is about choices Harry, the Powers-That-Be are very big on choices. Even in cases like this."

"And what are my choices?" Harry asked, though a part of him already knew.

"You can either allow yourself to fade, and magic will take both you and that portion of Voldemort's soul. You'll eventually be reborn somewhere in a new life, but of course you won't remember any of this. That piece of soul over there doesn't have that choice, it will be removed from the great wheel entirely. That's part of the penalty for trying to split the soul as Voldemort did."

"And my other choice?"

"To return to life wherever your spell took you. I don't know everything about what you'll face if you do, the Powers-That-Be aren't that generous. But your life will be hard, harsh at times and fraught with danger. But I can also say that the rewards will be beyond even your imagining. She smiled warmly. I wish I could say you would find happiness, but that's another one of those choice things, all up to you really.

Harry very slowly pushed himself out of his mother's grip, standing on his own two feet in this wide expanse of white to stare at the vile thing that had been in his scar. "Was it in my scar, or was it in me, my own soul?" he asked almost absentmindedly.

"Sort of both." Lily replied with a wince, watching him anxiously, none of her own thoughts on what she wanted him to do showing on her face. "It was getting stronger all the time, as were you. Someone placed magical bindings on you. That kind of thing is normally done to children when they first exhibit their powers to stop them from doing so much accidental magic they hurt themselves. But the binding was slowly being, absorbed I suppose by that bit of soul, as well as leaching magic off you."

Looking to the side Lily frowned angrily. If only she had been able to watch more of her son's life, from right after her death rather than since the first time he had thought of her which was several years later. Then maybe she would know who that enemy was. She had suspicions, and coupled with the fact that she had seen Albus turn up and Obliviate not just Harry but a team of Obliviators made her even more suspicious of him.

But that in itself wasn't enough, since Albus hadn't said anything after and had indeed implanted memories in Dudley and his gang of bullies to make them stop picking on Harry. They hadn't held long, and he had never spoken to Petunia or Vernon, but was that simply absentmindedness or something more sinister?

 _Then there is the Will to consider. What happened to Sirius, The Longbottoms, or even Rufus? I don't really want to know how Harry would've turned out if Rufus raised him, he was a little too job and status-oriented to make a good parent, but he would have been worlds better than Petunia and her family of pigs!_

Lily wasn't certain if Albus was conditioning Harry for some reason, or just was neglectful of what hiding Harry away from the magical world was costing her son, but she wasn't exactly happy with him whatever the case. She dearly wished that she was a real ghost rather than some kind of disembodied personality stuck following her son around, because if she was a ghost, she could go to Hogwarts and wring Albus' neck for what he was doing to her son.

While Lily was thinking about that Harry was thinking about what he had learned so far, and about the pros and cons of the two choices. In the end however his very nature rebelled against the idea of not taking up the challenge. "I want to go back." he said. "I want to see this new place I've found, maybe explore, maybe learn. I'm used to hardship, that doesn't frighten me and danger doesn't either not really. Not so long as I can fight back." he smirked and his fingers flex a little. "Will I have to hide my magic?"

"I don't think so, though I can't say for certain." Lily said smiling sadly if proudly at her son. Already the white area around them was fading as the Powers-That-Be had heard Harry's choice the instant he thought it. The thing that was Voldemort soul screamed as he began to dissipate, becoming so many little particles of darkness which then flared as they were consumed.

"I am proud of you Harry." she said, even as she felt the tug on her self/soul/body begin, pulling her back to where she had been before Harry had tried his desperate gamble. "Know that I will continue to watch over you, that I love you and that I am proud of you whatever you do with your life!"

At those words Harry turned suddenly, his eyes wide. "No!"

Lily felt his magical reach out for her, his soul connecting to hers here in this place. "Harry don't! It won't…"

"I don't care! I just got in my mother back, I just got a **family** back! You think I'm going to give you up, **NO**!" With every word Harry poured more of his willpower into his magic, trying to hold Lily's soul personality or whatever portion of her that was in front of him where it's was, trying to fight against whatever was trying to return her to the afterlife. His magic followed his desperate plea once more, slowly tying Lily's soul to his own.

Reality around them shimmered, then the white dissipated, and suddenly Harry found himself on a hard, solid ground much unlike the strange texture of the floor of the place he'd been just moments before. Various aches and pains told him he was still alive, and his eyes were crusted over, but even so his pains weren't nearly as bad as they had been, signifying that his healing ability had begun its work, though still had quite a bit left to do.

These new sensations made Harry realize that the only sensations he had really felt in that other place had been his mother's touch. With that thought his eyes popped open, and he looked around wildly "Mum?"

"Still here." Lily mused from nearby, and Harry felt something lightly ruffling his hair, not so much a touch as a breeze. "In some fashion anyway. You know, I was just thinking about what I'd like to do if I was a ghost, and now I am one." Despite the lightness of his words, there was something in it that said she was happy to still be with Harry despite her shock that she was.

Harry turned in the direction of her voice quickly, seeing both his mother and what was directly behind her. She was still in the same clothing that she had been in that other place, and she was glowing slightly, like ghosts always did in movies or stories. But the strangeness of that was nothing next to the happiness of simply seeing her, even in ghost form. "It worked!"

"Yes it did, and if you keep on doing things that ought to be impossible Harry, I think I'm going to have to simply disregard everything I've ever learned about magic. That would be irritating." Lily said then laughed a tinkling sound in the air. "Still, I can't complain, can you?"

Wordlessly, Harry shook his head. He'd dreamed of this, dreamed of having a conversation of his mother, of knowing he was loved. Even looking at her and knowing that he wouldn't be able to touch her, this was beyond his wildest dreams. His grin widened so hard it hurt, and he continued to smile even as the pains in his body began to pile up again.

Lily also was grinning wildly at him, though inside she was also somewhat sad that her husband would never be able to feel this. _Still, at least I'll be here to watch over our son James, whatever form I have to take to do it._ After a few moments however she got control of herself and looked around. Then she whistled in shock. "Harry, I think your spell took you a **lot** further away than I realized."

Harry looked where she was looking, and stared up at five moons in the sky then around at a forest of weird glowing crystals around him. It was the crystals that allowed him to see it all, everything else was pitch black, as if the sun didn't exist here. He laughed quietly shaking his head. "It reminds me of my cupboard before Vernon allowed me to put in my hanging light, but with a much better view."Then he shivered a little as suddenly his body clamored for attention, the cold hitting him like the fist of a god. "It's freezing here!" he said shattering his teeth chattering.

Lily turned back to him quickly. "Watch my finger!" she said crisply, "this is the spell for a warming charm." She gestured with her fingers in a series of flicks, then watched as Harry shakily did the same correcting him twice before he got it right then intoned the spell.

"Normally people do it with a wand, you've shown so much aptitude towards wandless magic it shouldn't bother you. The words and gestures will help you concentrate!"

Harry nodded then did the gesture again along with the words. He had to do it two more times before getting it right his teeth and body beginning to shut down from the cold, his fingers and toes already blue with cold. His teeth were chattering so much he barely got the words out. Yet when the spell hit, it flooded his body with warmth, banishing the cold quickly.

"That's better." He said with a sigh. Then he smirked at his mother. "You know you're a good teacher, I think that's going to come in handy here."

Lily laughed, reaching out to ruffle his hair, but her fingers passed right through his hair. Even so Harry smiled widely at the gesture, though both their eyes strayed up and around to the odd geography around them. "Wherever here is Harry, wherever here is."

 **Chapter 2: Surviving and Meetings**

An interminable time talking while walking in a single direction brought Harry and Lily to a small ridgeline, but there was no sign of any kind of habitation. Wherever they were, there weren't any people. Harry barely noticed this though, still entranced by the sheer pleasure of having his mother nearby, plying her with questions about her life.

She still wouldn't answer any serious questions about his father or their life together, not yet. Those questions should be answered in a much nicer environment, where he could curl up in a big chair and listen rather than have to walk watching his surroundings for threats. Even so, she touched on his group of 'bullies' as she called them or 'bullies that came good, the Marauders'. "Just because something is funny to you," she said finishing one detail in particular that had her eyes flashing with anger even at the memory "Does not mean that it's funny to everyone, particularly the victim."

Harry nodded, understanding that point easily enough. After all, Dudley and his friends thought Harry Hunting was fun, and Harry certainly didn't. Looking around he only then began to register that his heating charm was beginning to fade. Harry quickly redid it then looked around. "We have to find some kind of shelter or something. Er, at least for me anyway."

"Yes those kinds of charms do tend to wear off over time. And we'll need to find some food for you too. Unfortunately you can't eat anything you transfigure, it won't have the nutritional properties of actual food. Mind you, there was such a thing as the Transfiguration Diet."

"Transfiguration?" Harry asked not having asked any magic-related questions yet. "What's that?"

"That's the school of magic that deals with fundamentally changing one thing to another. A charm for example how you changed your shirts color, while an example of transfiguration would be how you changed your clothing's size. There are a few areas like that where the two disciplines overlap." Lily frowned thoughtfully as she hovered in the air next to Harry, moving with that breezy gait of ghosts. She'd attempted to simply walk, but she didn't actually move, so floating was the only thing she could do.

"I think looking back on it that a lot of the spells in Transfiguration in particular were more concentration aids than anything else. It's more about the ability to control the image in your head and then juxtapose that image onto reality."

Harry didn't know what juxtapose meant, but he could understand what it meant from the rest of the sentence. "That's what I did! It was **really** hard the first few times, but it got easier each time I did it."

"Which might be why the specific spells came into being. Wizards are not people who like dealing with difficult things or concepts." She shook her head sadly. "Remember this Harry if you ever have to interact with wizards. Wizards are lazy, they find a way to do something once with minimal effort, and if they find an easier way to do something the original is slowly lost. It's a mode of thought that seems to infect even muggle-born given enough time."

She had other lessons to impart about the wizards, but she wasn't certain that Harry would ever be returning to Earth. The Powers-That-Be had not been very helpful in that area, possibly realizing that Harry would attempt to bring her with him, and not wanting to influence events further. She feared that he would however, and Lily would do all she could to prepare Harry for that eventuality, and for everything else that might come his way.

With a shake of her head Lily brought her mind back to the here and now. "So, shelter."

Harry looked around, then up at one of the crystal structures. Looking into himself in a way he couldn't quite describe, Harry decided he didn't really have enough magical energy yet to try to transfigure anything that big. So he was forced to climb up a crystal standing on the top of it for a moment to look around for anything he could use as cover.

Laughing lightly Lily fluttered up next to him shaking her head as she reached out with an ephemeral hand to brush Harry's hair gently. "You know you could've just asked me to do that right?"

Harry twitched, looking away not wanting to say out loud that he had not yet really gotten used to the idea of someone wanting to help or at least going out of their way to help him. The teachers at school were sometimes kind to him, but that was so haphazard it hadn't really sunk in.

With the two of them looking in different directions, they soon covered the entire area, but didn't see anything very helpful. "Why don't you stay here and I'll see exactly how far from you I can get Harry, see if I can find any shelter." Lily said, still ruffling his hair. Harry nodded shyly, and Lily leaned in to buss his cheek with her ghostly lips before moving off. Harry watched her go, hoping that she would return quickly.

She was back about five minutes later, frowning thought fully. "Well the good news is I can get I'd say about a mile or so away from you, which means I'll be of use as a scout. The bad news is, I only found one place that looks like shelter, and it's already inhabited."

"By an animal or a person?" Harry asked as he climbed down from the crystal. It wasn't smooth like the crystals he had seen in pictures in the library or in some of the older kid's science classed. It was rough under his fingers with a few handholds here and there, and the fact it was glowing definitely helped. It also had small growths that almost looked like branches, and even leaves though it took Harry a few minutes to realize that was what they were.

"Animal, though it's almost your size. It almost reminds me of a badger, but not quite, more like a badger crossed with an ant or perhaps a beetle, since it does have some horns or something like them around its mouth."

Harry shuddered a little. "Are you sure there's only one?" he asked anxiously. Facing a horde of ants his own size did not sound fun to him.

"Yes, don't worry, I made certain to check. It's this way." She said gesturing slightly to the right of the route they had been following through the forest of crystals.

"Do you think we'll be able to scare it off, or, or kill it?"

Lily winced a little. "I don't think so, just judging from the fact it's burrow looks permanent it won't want to give it up without a fight. I'm afraid you'll have to scare it off, or, or you might have to kill it. I'm sorry Harry. It's the best I could find."

Harry shuddered again, a full body shudder this time but after a moment his gaze firmed and he nodded resolutely. Seeing this Lily nodded her head, once again leaning down to kiss him on the forehead. "Be strong Harry, I can teach you a spell that'll help. Though I don't know if you'll be able to do it without a focus."

"It's all right mom, at least this place is better than being with the Dursleys." He didn't notice her Lily's wince at that, or how she shook her head her emerald eyes brimming with unshed tears for a moment. She shook them off however, and went on to describe the spells she was hoping Harry could use.

Several moments later, Harry didn't know how long it took since telling time here was impossible, he felt he had the spell down. He gestured with the sharp flick of his fingers, and a bright red ring shot out from them slamming into a crystal across from the route he was walking. "Stupefy!"

"Excellent Harry!" Lily exclaimed, clapping her ethereal hands. Honestly, she hadn't thought Harry would be able to do it, but the concentration skills he had learned over the past few months while he was experimenting with his magic had stood Harry in good stead, so he didn't seem to need a focus, at least not so far. That was astonishing and coupled with the rest of what Harry had done Lily decided that maybe what she thought of as the basic laws of magic might not be so much laws as assumptions wizards had made over time, with only a few of them being true unbreakable rules.

She shook her head, wishing to think about that later but right now she had to get her son undercover somewhere _. And maybe get him some food to. What was that spell Professor Flitwick told me about that checks food for poisons?_

The two of them, James and Sirius were all drunk at the time. They had just come back from an excursion in Africa to make certain that the witch doctors there weren't going to join forces with Voldemort. After a few drinks James had asked the diminutive professor how he had made certain that the food the witch doctors gave them wasn't poisoned.

It had been, but Flitwick still negated the poisons easily enough, and he and the witch doctors had all laughed as if it was all good fun. Sirius had too Lily remembered. He said something about his family that James simply nodded at while it had shot past Lily, until James explained it later. She had been appalled at the time, but right now that wasn't important.

After a moment, she brought the spell's incantation to mind, and crossed her fingers hoping that she remembered the gestures right. Those she was much rockier on, as she confessed to Harry a few moments later as they crested another small rise in the land and could stared down into the dell where she had seen the animal and its burrow. "We were all a little tipsy I'm afraid, so you might have to experiment with the gestures, but after you're finished the spell, the meat should either glow yellow for good, or purple for poisonous."

Harry crouched down, staying low so as to not present a target if the animal was looking around it, though if it could see much with the only light coming from the crystals around them he didn't know. Lily hadn't been very helpful in describing what the animal could or could not do, only what it looked like. Why purple and yellow? And did the animal see you?"

"No it didn't, I passed right through it and it didn't respond at all. It might be sleeping for all I know, but it looked dangerous so be careful Harry." Harry Lily said seriously. "As for purple and yellow, I have no idea."

Harry nodded, and began to make his way forward still crouching down using what cover he could. He was good at hiding, though being on this end of a hunt was kind of strange. And there wasn't a lot of cover available here either. Eventually he was near enough to see the hole in the ground that Lilly had directed him to. The hole looked big enough for him though Lily's ghost might have to stay outside else her body would be with both him and the ground around it.

But as soon as he entered the small clearing around the hole, the creature burst out of its cage possibly hearing Harry's shoes on the gravel of the ground around.

The beast was actually a bit larger than Harry had expected after seeing its burrow, though Lily had warned him it was. If it stood on its hind feet, it would be as large as Harry and quite a bit wider. It did indeed look like some kind of mole with fur along its chest and arms, but it also had armor plates all along its back, which looked more like a grub than a beetle's, at least in Harry's opinion. _I suppose I've spent more time around bugs than my mother, aren't girls supposed to be afraid of bugs or something anyway?_

That thought was at the back of his mind however the rest of Harry's mind was busy controlling his body. Because the creature didn't just have armor plates on his back, it had long claws at the end of its paws, and the snout that emerged from under a bit of armor plate had wide mandibles open and slashing together. It was also racing straight at Harry, crossing the distance between them very fast indeed, moving on four of it's six legs.

Harry performed the swish and flick of his fingers that Lily had taught him pointing at the creature. "Stupefy!"

The first attempt was weak, only staggering the creature a little and it kept on coming. Now Harry could hear angry chittering coming from it. "GRAAHGRAAH!"

Harry quickly did the spell again, but it didn't work this time any better than the last even though the red circle looked much more powerful as it zoomed through the air. "It's not working!"

"Try to put more power into it!" Lily instructed urgently, moving forward as if to bar the creature's way automatically, only for the thing to pass through her without even noticing. She turned her face now a rictus of fear as it dawned on her that the creature was much tougher than she had expected, and that her son was in danger right in front of her and she couldn't do anything about it.

The third spell staggered the thing, and staggered from side to side shaking its head, which allowed Harry to hit it twice more with two more Stupefys. But the creature threw them off, and was on Harry before he could try again. The thing's claws sought Harry's side and chest, but he ducked away reflexively, reflexes honed by years of Harry Hunting standing him in good stead.

Desperately Harry grabbed the beast with his magic like it was one of his stones back in his hideaway then hurled it towards a few crystals. He was so scared he put as much power as he could into the spell, and the thing whistled through the air until it slammed with a boom into the crystal, shattering some of them.

It also impaled itself on bits of the crystal. Harry watched falling to his knees and gasping a little as the thing began to bleed out it's legs still moving spasmodically as it shrilled a high-pitched scream.

"Harry!" Lily flew through the air towards her son wishing desperately that she had hands, going down to her knees and looking into his face. "Harry, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Harry whispered, shaking his head. "Just really tired." With a groan of effort he pushed himself to his feet, moving over and grabbing up a small crystal from where the creature had impacted, holding it like a knife as he moved on towards where the body had fallen. He prodded the beast, but it didn't react, going still as he watched. It's back had been penetrated in seven different places, one of which was directly in back of its head, and he sighed in relief. "That thing was a lot tougher than I thought."

"It was a lot tougher than I thought too Harry, but I am so proud of you, you were magnificent!" Lily said, throwing her arms around him in the universe's most ethereal hug.

Yet Harry still felt it, and that was enough. He smiled up at her before gesturing at the creature. "What should we do with it?"

Harry knew next to nothing about woodcraft, but he knew that dead bodies tended to smell, and that smell tended to bring predators. Though they hadn't seen anything living yet besides his creature, he wasn't willing to take the chance.

"Try the spells on it first. The meat might be edible, and maybe the fur could be made into a coat or something." Lily frowned, unhappy at the fact she really couldn't do anything other than instruct her son in the spells.

Harry did the spell, and watched in confusion when the body of the creature glowed a mix of purple and yellow. "Ooookay, what does that mean?"

Lily winced. "I'm afraid that probably means that while it isn't poisoned, the meat itself is poisonous to you. Damn, that probably means we'll have to keep moving quickly, so you should take some time to rest at least."

Reluctantly Harry nodded, though Lily was not looking at him still looking at the body. "Could… I hate to suggest this, I know it's going to be a disgusting process, but do you think you could carve out a bit of its meat and set it aside, part of the underbelly I mean,then cast a spell on just at that?"

"You think that's there are some bits that could be fit to eat?" Harry asked as he went to work grimacing as the thing's blood and pus immediately spurted out of the cuts he was making in its underbelly. It steamed in the air, and it was a lot warmer than Harry had expected.

"Well, some creatures have poison glands, or other things like stomach acids that are poisonous."Lily responded shrugging her shoulders and looking away, gagging.

After a moment he had a section of the meat off the creature, setting it aside and endeavoring not to look at it even as he cast the spell Lily had taught him. It glowed yellow after a moment. Harry blanched but nodded his head. "Well, um, then we just have to find a way to make fire…"

"You're a wizard Harry!" Lily laughed, turning back to him with faint smile. "Trust me, fire and light aren't going to be an issue. I'm going to fly up past these crystals things to keep watch just in case anything else heard the noise. We have no idea about the senses of animals around here, or how far noise can travel through these crystals. We've been talking for a while and haven't seen anything, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Harry frowned, not liking having his mother leave him like that, but nodded understanding the necessity. While Harry went to work, Lily hovered in the air about forty feet above him, staring all around them. _There doesn't seem to be anything else around, which is both good and bad._ Bad because it meant that there was no life either, intelligent life anyway. Which meant they were really on their own here, or rather Harry was, since Lily didn't need anything in the way of survival needs.

Down below Harry methodically butchered the edible is best suited with his makeshift crystal knife and little to no knowledge of how to actually do it. He also took a bit of the creatures blood. Scanning it with the spell and seeing it glow yellow Harry grimaced, then changed a bit of it into water. It began to freeze almost immediately, but harry was able to get a few sips of it, grimacing all the while. The taste was simply foul, despite Harry having changed the blood to water, something had come through.

After that, Harry peeled off several strips of meat, laying them aside and continually going over them with spells. He eventually had what looked like enough to feed the Dursleys for a at least a day, and he hadn't gotten into anything poisonous yet. After that he looked up at his mom. "I'm done."

She came down from where she had been hovering, nodding. "I suggest you grab the corpse with that spell you were using to hold it in place then throw it as far away from you as possible. Just in case there are scavengers. I'll follow it, and if scavengers don't go after it we can come back tomorrow to harvest anything else we can think of. The cold of this place should preserve the rest of the meat as well."

Harry nodded, lifting the corpse off the crystals, shaking his head. He hadn't liked killing the creature, but it really was the beast or him. With both hands raised to help him concentrate he held it up in the air, then moved them to one side and made a pushing motion, sending it through the air to land elsewhere.

After a moment Lily returned and he smiled up at her, cutting off a yawn. "Now what?"

Lily told him the spells to create fire, particularly Incendio which created a stream of fire, the size of which was variable with the power you put into it. Even now exhausted as he was Harry's stream was rather larger than Lily expected, which she made a mental note of. Her son was quite a bit more powerful than she was, or even James she suspected.

That was interesting, and she wondered how much of that was chance, and how much of it was the fact he was supposed to be the equal to the Dark Lord. Say what you would about anything he did, but Voldemort was easily the most powerful wizard alive in terms of raw magical potential. Dumbledore and a few others had him beat for control of course, which was very important in terms of actual ability, but power was important too.

Harry tried to bring the meat in conjunction with the fire still coming out of his hands, there not being anything around here that he could actually burn. The crystals simply reflected the fire off them, even the leaves. Though they did glow brighter afterwards, which was interesting. After a moment he was able to do it.

After a second he picked it up gingerly, holding his nose with his free hand before biting into it. Harry gagged, but it wasn't the worst thing he'd ever eaten. He chewed, then swallowed. "Has sort of the taste of, of well, bad fish. But I can eat it I guess."

Lily nodded morosely. "I hope it's got some nutritional value, if not you're going to be in a very bad way soon, Harry. We'll need to move on quickly, but for now let's get you under shelter, okay?"

Harry nodded, and with the rest of the meat floating a foot off the ground behind him made his way over to the entrance to the burrow. Inside it was actually quite a bit roomier than he had expected, but thankfully there weren't any eggs or anything of that nature to indicate that the creature had a mate or children. It was also quite a bit warmer inside. The small burrow was lined with leaves from the crystals, which seemed to hold in the warmth better than mere stone, and there were several patches of fur here and there as well. With those and a single heat spell the small den was actually comfortable, since it sort of reminded Harry of his cupboard only more circular and with much better lighting thanks to a Lumos spell.

There was actually a little room for Lily as well, though she had to scrunch up or else she would be phasing though the ground around the den. She watched as Harry came in, then put the meat down at the far side of the room. He burnt another strip, now showing much more control over the Incendio spell than before, holding the flame up from one palm while gingerly holding the meat over it in the other.

"Eat a little more Harry then try to get some sleep. Tomorrow, ah…" Lily laughed. "Hehe, I don't even know if there is a daytime here yet, but still, we'll want to move on fast I think. This place, there's no way you could survive here for very long."

Harry nodded, but Lily went on before he could say anything. "I'll teach you a conjuration spell to create a blanket for herself. I don't know if you'll be able to do it though since you're so tired."

Harry thought for a moment then shook his head. "If conjuration is worse than… transfiguration you said, changing things?" Lily nodded and Harry went on. I shouldn't chance it now." He yawned again and suddenly seemed to slump as the adrenaline wore off. "I, I don't think I'm going to care anyway." He said murmuring softly now. "I'm so tired I could fall asleep sitting up."

"Get some rest Harry." Lilly smiled lovingly, reaching out with gentle hands to ruffle his hair with ethereal fingers once more. "I'll keep watch, don't worry."

Slumping against the wall of the burrow as he continued to chew the strange meat Harry nodded. But he was so tired he fell asleep between one bite and the next, the meat dropping from his fingers as his head drooped to one side. Within moments he was deeply asleep.

Sighing sadly, Lily looked at her son, reaching out with a gentle hand to stroke his cheek. _Sleep well Harry. I'll watch over you. As I should've been doing all along._

 **OOOOOOO**

The next day Harry woke up, somewhat groggy and somewhat unsure of where he was. Then it all came back to him, and he opened his eyes widely, pushing up off the wall of the den to stare around him. "Mum?!"

Lily appeared from the small entrance to the burrow, smiling at him and Harry felt his body relax. So not only was it all not a dream, but his mother really was with him! Whatever else happened, that was worth any price to him. He breathed a sigh of relief, then shivered a little, before renewing his heating charm with relief.

His stomach gurgled at him, indicating that it needed some fuel, which Harry began to fix while Lily told him that she hadn't seen anything move throughout the night. Afterwards she said "Like I said last night Harry, I think we need to move on quickly. I have no idea if that meat will give you anything your body actually needs to keep going, but we need to find some people if at all possible, and I have a spell that might help."

"It isn't normally used for such broad terms, but I hope it can work. Or no…" Lily said snapping her fingers. "We'll do something a little different." After Harry finished eating, he picked up the small crystal he had used as a knife, holding it flat on his palm. "Visualize the effect, then hold your other hand over it, and say 'point me another human'."

"Isn't that a little too unclear?" Harry asked looking up at his mother.

"Vague, and yes, but it's the best we can do. We could maybe do something like civilization if that doesn't work, or maybe the nearest habitation."

Harry tried the first two without success, but the third worked, and the piece of crystal spun for a second before it pointed South and West and slightly down. This meant that the civilization was around the planet slightly from the place they were currently in, though not directly down, which was good. Lily didn't think Harry would be able to make it if the only bit of civilization on the planet was on the other side from where they were currently.

"We might want to cancel it and triangulate once we reach the corpse of that beast from last night. That way we can see how far around the surface the nearest habitation is." She mused. "Though I'm already thinking of a theory about this planet since we haven't seen the sun yet, and yet there is life here..."

"What's your theory mum?" Harry asked as he crawled out of the burrow. He felt refreshed, really refreshed, and a little more energetic than he normally would really, though his body was still hungry.

With Lily bobbing along in front of Harry leading him towards the course she explained her theory. "Most planets have a diurnal cycle, which is night and day. But if this planet doesn't have that, if the planet has the same portion of the world facing the sun, then that face would become far too hot for civilization. But there would be a small area between the two different sections where life could be possible."

Harry nodded understanding, though he really only had a vague idea of what Lily was talking about. The two of them continued to walk for a time before finding the corpse, which was as Lily had left it for the most part. With Lily's advice Harry began to take the rest of the beast apart, taking all the furry bits and making a coat out of it that at least covered his shoulders and head. The armor he also took off, using it to cover his arms just in case.

Once done with the creature's corpse he cast the Point Me spell again, and the two of them began to move in the direction indicated. Despite not knowing how far he had to travel Harry was in a happy mood. He had a whole planet to explore, and he had his mother with him, which was more than he had ever dreamed possible. Lily too was happy, and smiled down at him through the light of his Lumos spell and her own glow, then began to tell him more about magic and the magical world.

Weeks later their happiness was fading because the two of them were becoming more and more worried. Harry had eked out the food from that first animal, and had slain another one for it's burrow and food using the _Incendio_ spell Lily had taught him. Whatever natural defense the animals had against the effect of the  Stupefy spell, it did not extend to being set on fire. Harry had winced the entire time, but this was a real survival situation, and he endured it.

Worse was the fact that he had to change the blood into water again, and the taste was still vile, almost making him throw up. But despite his transfiguration skills, both the meat and blood lacked something his body needed. Harry could feel in a way he couldn't quite describe that his magic was slowly taking over running his body. It was a bad thing because that left him with far less magic, and it was getting worse as time went on.

It had been fourteen sleep cycles since they had seen the last burrower when Lily, scouting ahead, finally spotted something ahead of them. Light on the horizon, more light than Harry had seen since arriving on this planet. It soon resolved itself into light shining over a mountain in the distance. In fact after last few 'weeks' in near total darkness the light positively blinded Harry, and he was forced to cover his eyes, tearing off a bit of his shirt to cover them for a moment.

Next to him Lily shook her head, for once grateful that she wasn't alive, since that meant her eyes were unaffected by the sunlight in the distance. "Well, at least we found the sun." she said lamely.

 **OOOOOOO**

It took them another ten of Harry's sleep cycles to find the first sign of civilization they had seen since arriving here. By that point Harry was barely able to use his magic, so much of it was devoted to keeping his body running. This was made even worse because of the debilitating heat and the scorching sun above them. That made going harder, but thankfully the end of their journey seemed to be at hand.

Harry was now hiding behind the large outcropping of rocks staring down from his position at what was obviously a small metal door set into the side of the mountain over what was probably a cave or a tunnel of some kind.

"We have to get in there." Lily said worriedly, standing out in the open since no one could see her ghostly body. "I can feel it in the air, something is changing, some kind of storm or other."

Since coming to this world both Harry and his mother had begun to feel things like that. Lily put it down to the fact that the magic on this world or in this star system wherever they were was so much more powerful than back on Earth. It was a strange phenomenon, especially to Lily. She had lived in Hogwarts, one of the five most magically charged areas on Earth, but here, the entire planet had more magic than there. She couldn't describe it better than that, but it had been helpful several times in avoiding danger.

This was particularly true since coming into the sun-ward area of the planet. It'd helped them avoid one of the most dangerous creatures that Harry or Lily had ever seen, a fifty foot tall monster with six spear footed feet, long whip-like tentacles and massive jaws. Whatever that creature was, it was obviously the alpha predator of this area of the planet, and neither of them had any desire to see if Harry's growing skills with magic would stand up to it.

The magic also had two more surprising features. After a few days Lily was able to actually solidify parts of her body for a few seconds allowing her to touch Harry however briefly. She still couldn't interact with the rest of the environment, but even that little bit was enough for them to be thankful for.

They both also felt that the magical aura of the planet was also the only reason why Harry was still alive. Even given his own magical strength Harry could not have lived for this long on his own magic, but the magic of the environment kept on filling him up second by second, allowing him to keep going.

But even that had its limits, and looking down at him now Lily knew those limits were close. Harry's face was thin and parched, his skin burned red, his eyes despite being covered, and his arms evening when covered by his makeshift jacket was thin and unhealthy looking.

"I know." Harry replied, his voice weaken and parched. "But we can't just try to break in. That door's probably that heavy to keep out those monsters. Whoever is in there, we can't just let them in."

"I know but…" Lily bit her lip then floated down to kiss Harry on the cheek. "Wait here Harry, I'll be right back."With that she zoomed off, not stopping when she met the metal door, simply floating through it and the rocks around it. The door was heavy, but not exactly large.

On the other side it was obvious to that this was some kind of protective cover over an air vent, which was closed at present. When Lily looked closely she noticed it was disused, bits and pieces of it here and there rusted, possibly making it immovable without a lot of there was no one around, and the small air shaft kept going deeper into the mountain.

She looked around using a mental trick she had learned during her marriage to James to memorize the layout of the area, hoping that her desperate plan worked. Harry wouldn't survive more than another few days out there if that and she refused to let him die. _No, no way, we haven't come this far just for my son to join me in the afterlife!_

With grim determination she continued her mental exercise until she was certain she knew every square inch of the area around her, then phased back out the door. She stopped however with her head out the doorway, staring at her son. "Harry, I thought I said…"

Harry shook his head quickly, pointing back up the mountain slope at the sky. Lily turned and stared up into the sky aghast. It was like a heat haze was gathering directly above them. And now that she was out of the cavern even she could feel it, the magical aura of the planet warning them of danger.

 **Extreme** danger. Even as she stared up into the sky she began to see a pattern beginning to form up there. And the wind though Lily couldn't feel it began to pick up, causing Harry's hair to ruffle and then nearly blow him off his feet forcing Harry to hold onto a small bit of metal outside the door.

"I need to get in there now!" Harry said, and for once his voice sounding small and scared. The force of nature going on above them was doing that where none of the other dangers they had faced since arriving wherever they were had. Not even that first creature had made him so frightened for his life.

Lily forced her hands into solidity, gritting her teeth in concentration to solidify so much skin, holding his head in her hands. "Harry," she said calmly, "look at me. I have a plan, but you need to be calm and able to concentrate, can you do that?"

Harry stared into his mother's eyes through the thin strip of cloth covering his own, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as he began to calm his mind. He entered a sort of semi-meditation frame of mind for a moment as his mother had taught him over the past few weeks, the first step in learning how to do Occlumency, the art of organizing and protecting the mind. After a moment Harry nodded and Lily let her hands fall away from his face with relief. Keeping her hands solid like that had been exhausting beyond anything Lily could remember from when she was alive.

"All right Harry, I am going to ask you to close your eyes while I tell you about what we're going to do. You're going to have to visualize this exactly, and when we're done, you're going to try to apparate yourself to the other side of the hatch."

Harry blinked, frowning for a moment before he nodded. Concentrating for a moment he decided he was strong enough to try this, if only just. Though that wasn't the only problem.

They'd talked about apparition based on the notes Harry had taken on teleportation, and his mother had filled him in on it what had happened when he lost his memory. The two of them had debated what the old man who she recognized as Albus could've been up to, but haven't come up with any satisfying answer. Lily was somewhat reluctant to call him an ally or an enemy for his actions that day, while Harry was unwilling to see him as anything but an enemy.

That was neither here nor there right now. The idea of splinching himself again, as his mother put it, was the thought that was dominating his mind at the moment. But if it was either that or standing here and facing that storm…

Resolutely Harry nodded. "I trust you." he said firmly, then closed his eyes not seeing the bright smile his mother's face. After a second however she got down to business, describing the inside of the tunnel as well as she could, including the height of it and everything else she had seen. When she was done Harry recited it all back to her, with Lily correcting him quickly but calmly, her own eyes staring up into the growing storm above them. The heat was also rising exponentially, and Harry was beginning to sweat profusely despite the cooling charm his mother had taught him, wincing despite his covering at the wind and the impact of the heat on him.

After a moment they were ready and Lily said. "All right Harry now focus on that image and then slowly superimpose yourself into it. Concentrate on it until you have your entire body perfectly then merge the two images. Wait until you have it exactly right, with your body perfectly aligned into the new image, then pour your magic into it and make it happen."

Lily repeated her instructions several times as Harry went through the mental process, then after a moment he nodded, sweating now from more than the rising heat, even though that was becoming so much his skin was blistering despite his clothes. "All right now!" With a loud pop Harry disappeared from where he had step stood, and Lily frantically looked around, breathing a sigh of relief as she noticed that he hadn't left anything behind.

With that thought she turned, phasing through the doorway just as the storm hit behind her. Behind her the heat storm hit, cyclone level winds blasting the landscape as the heat rose beyond 300°C, baking and burning, killing anything living in its path.

Inside the tunnel Harry was on his knees, gasping as the magical exhaustion hit him. Apparating like that had really, really drained him, but Lily looking down at him and then back at the door knew they couldn't stay here. "Harry," she said urgently reaching down and gently running her ghostlike hands through his hair. "We need to go, we need to get further away from the surface of that heat storm, it's going to eventually start sending heat through the door, you can't be here when it does, even a little bit of that will kill you!"

Harry looked over his shoulder at her, pulling off the cloth around his face then wearily summoning up a small very dim little ball of light in one hand. "Lead the way."

As he walked, Harry pulled off bits of clothing, wringing them out over his mouth and sucking hungrily at the sweat, as he had been doing for days, it being the only source of water on the light side of this planet. That would be the first priority Lily knew. It amazed her that Harry's magic had been able to keep him alive so long, but water and food would be a definite priority.

An interminable amount of time later they were far enough away from the surface for Lily to let Harry rest, which he did so slumping against one of the walls of the small tunnel, falling asleep almost immediately. Lily bit her lips again looking down at her son, knowing how close he was to just burning out, whatever his own inherent magic or the magic of the world around them could do.

With that in mind Lily left him there, heading further down the tunnel, trying to discover everything she could about this place. Eventually she began to hear sounds ahead of her, including, and this made her smile happily when she realized it, noises that were obviously voices.

The end of the tunnel she was in was blocked off by a heavy boulder, causing her to wince realizing that Harry would have to try to apparate through it again. The other side of it was at the back of what, Lily figured out quickly was some kind of small hovel or poor area. There were several dozen alien creatures around, all of them living in small makeshift huts set haphazardly against the side of a far larger tunnel than the small air shaft Harry had been trooping through.

The aliens were somewhat human looking, two arms, two feet what were obviously mouths, ears and eyes and all that. But they didn't seem to have any hair on their heads, instead having two long tentacle-like things coming out of the back of their skulls and draped down their backs. A few of them had what were obviously tattoos of some kind scattered across their bodies, and one or two of them were exchanging words in a language that she could not understand.

Judging by the breasts two of the group had, they were females, but the rest were all males of various ages. One of the females was youngish, the other wrinkled and old looking, like one of the men in the area.

All of the aliens wore rags further indicating that this group wasn't exactly well-to-do. Though there were bits and pieces here and there that hinted at the fact that maybe there were richer groups around, and some of the tools she saw being used to cook or to mend clothing looked strangely high-tech. What was also interesting to Lily was the fact that their teeth were obviously that of omnivores, which was a good sign and led into the most important thing.

That important thing was they also had some food with them. Some kind of soup was bubbling away over a fire along with strips of what looked like meat and what looked like an oddly green and white spotted bread of some kind was being cut into slices nearby. There were even four of what were obviously meat animals of some sort kept in a small walled off area. None of the aliens looked well fed, but they certainly looked better than Harry did at the moment. And honestly, with her son so close to death, Lily would not have cared overmuch if they looked like they were starving unless they were children.

Her attention was diverted from the food when there was a sort of whispered shout from further down the tunnel. She watched in puzzlement as the young female quickly hid herself in one of the huts, the entrance to which was quickly boarded up by one of the males.

A moment later another group of the same type of aliens entered the small area. This gang wore more clothing and seemed much better fed than the first group, all whom sat very still as the newcomers swaggered of them walked straight up to one of the other aliens, a heavy hand slapping into the other ones chest and sending him to the ground.

The downed alien didn't make a protest, save whimpering a little and trying to say something trying to make himself smaller. The newcomer continued to growl at him, before reaching out with a proprietary hand, grabbing up the largest piece of meat on the fire.

 _For all the magic that the wizards and witches of Earth ever developed, why did no one ever try to figure out a way up to create a translation spell? Hell, why didn't I?_ Lily thought shaking her head. This was obviously some kind of gang or other, and the squatters couldn't fight them, so obviously gave into their demands.

Thankfully after a moment the group of thugs seemed satisfied and moved back off down the tunnel. Lily watched as the squatters breathed sighs of relief, including the young woman who stuck her head out from her hiding place.

She watched as the guard who had obviously warned the others of the gangsters arrival walked up. He said something to the young woman who nodded back, reaching out to stroke one of his tentacle-things lightly, which caused him to smile slightly, it's tip winding around her hand for a moment. Then he turned back, moving further down the corridor while she hurried over to remove the soup she had been tending from over the fire.

Lily followed the guard, coming to a small unobtrusive and well-hidden barricade at the end of the tunnel, where he stood hidden in the dark of the tunnel staring out into the first fully lit tunnel Lily had seen so far, which this one intersected. From here she could hear some sounds in the distance in both directions, though it was noticeably noisier in one direction than the other.

She decided to head in the direction of the least noise for now, quickly coming out into what was obviously some kind of underground factory or other which is obviously seen better times. A lot of the machinery she could see, whose purpose she couldn't understand, looked ancient, rusting in places and obviously worn down. There was also a harsh tang of rust in the air, further hinting at the age of the place.

 _So, squatters living on the edge of a rundown area, understandable I suppose if not exactly a good sign for Harry and I._ She refused to think about the fact that it was just Harry that really needed food and water to survive since she was a ghost. Worse, Lily could possibly continue on if Harry died even if he didn't immediately join her. That was a horrifying thought on many levels, and she refused to do well on it.

She spent a few moments zooming through the ancient looking factory, finally understanding what they were building here. It looked as if they were building small batteries and small handheld devices of some kind, though not quickly, and not in very large numbers. Though Lily decided to put the low output down to simply the age of the machines rather than the workers themselves, who seemed to go about their jobs efficiently At least from her perspective which admittedly wasn't worth much.

 _Possibly this place could be gang-owned I suppose, but nothing we can do about it, not right away at least._ Lily had a firm grasp of right and wrong, and about law and justice and she detested bullies. That had been one of the many reasons why she'd kept on turning James away for so long until he finally changed his tune during their senior year and become a man rather than a little boy.

She turned, making her way back down the corridor quickly, moving towards the other end of it. After several smaller areas each with other groups of squatters or gangsters, she finally broke out into an area that looked well-to-do, with far better lighting, better-looking housing, and better looking clothing on the people all around.

The men she saw around now wore full-body clothing of decent design if rather drab in color and more than half of them seemed to go around armed, which Lily wondered was a defensive reaction or a societal thing. _If those monsters we saw outside can get in here sometimes_ she shuddered at the very idea of what one of those beasts could do in close confines like this.

And it was close, even here in the better areas the cavern was only about two or three stories tall and about 600 feet across. She estimated this would be the equivalent of a mid-range suburb or so, and she hoped that the higher she got into the interior of the mountain the better it would look. But even that thought was set aside due to the main issue she was seeing as she looked around.

Many of the women around her wore skimpy clothing of the kind that she knew would cause her son issues, which rather amused her frankly. But what didn't was the fact that it might not be their own choice. More than half of the women Lily saw around her wore collars, or possibly other things over the tentacles on their heads, signifying what could be slave status. _That isn't good_ she thought grimly. _Not good at all._

 **OOOOOOO**

Harry awoke in darkness, his light of having gone out long since, but the gentle humming of his mother, and the familiar warmth of having her near made him smile despite the dire straits he still knew he was in. He opened his eyes slowly, getting accustomed once again to the darkness all around them, not even lit by the luminescence of the crystal growths as the night side of the planet had been. "Mum?"

Lily's humming broke off quickly and she hovered in front of her son, glowing ethereally giving enough light for Harry to see. "How are you feeling Harry?" she asked solicitously.

"I'm all right," he lied then winced a little as she cocked her head her lips forming into a frown. "All right, I feel really weak. Not as weak as I was out there, the magics filling me up again I suppose, but…" he shrugged.

He watched while Lily bit her lip then asked, "Do you think you could apparate again?"

Harry felt his magical core inside himself for a moment before replying cautiously. "It, it would depend on how far."

"Not as far as you did to get in here, the small cave-in further down the air shaft isn't very thick. But if you can get to the other side of the rock, we might be able to steal some food."

"From who?" Harry asked.

Lily went into detail on what she had seen on the other side as the two of them moved through the tunnel, heading towards the end of it. Harry wasn't happy about the idea of stealing from a group that seemed so down on their luck as the squatters Lily described, but realized he really didn't have any choice, his body was close to giving out one him despite his magic's best efforts.

"We'll have to wait until it's night out there or whatever, the sleep cycle or something like on spaceships." Harry asked, shaking his head. His hunger and his bodies slow descent into shutting down was beginning to effect his mind, and he knew he wouldn't be able to wait very long before trying to teleport through the rock. If he did, he might lose the ability to concentrate enough to pull it off.

"I understand, but before we do that you'll have to figure out a way to hide you. I know you already know how to silence your footsteps, but I think you need to figure out a way to blend in." Lily could have taught him a charm to do this, but she was interested in what Harry would come up with alone or with just a little help anyway.

She also didn't want Harry to become dependent on her as the font of all magical knowledge. That was why she had taught him only the barest number of spells while out in the wild, letting him work out how to do a lot of other things for himself. It had worked so far, and she was certain it would this time too.

By the time it they had got into the rock at the end of the tunnel Harry had figured out how to create a chameleon effect coupled with a low powered 'boring' field as Harry put it, that even made it hard for Lily to concentrate on him as he walked along. Those spells coupled with his silencing himself would allow Harry to sneak around relatively unnoticed.

When they reached the rock Lily went through it while Harry waited, and then came back with a detailed description of what was on the other side. This was a really dangerous process, because normally apparition could not be accomplished except to a place the person in question had already been, but given the fact that Harry's survival relied on it, Lily was forced to try again and hope they did the impossible a second time.

Thankfully Harry was still able to concentrate enough to get through it, appearing on the other side still disillusioned and still silenced falling to his knees in the small open area between the two huts on either side. Lily zoomed through the rock quickly, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. "Well done Harry!" she whispered joyfully. "I'll be right back, I'll see if I can thought find where the food is."

She did so quickly, coming back and directing him into one of the huts on the right side of the tunnel. The hut's doorway wasn't a door at all, just a small very thin piece of cloth hung up to cover the entryway. Two of the locals were asleep inside, two of the older looking squatters. Lily quickly directed Harry where to go, still using the light of her body to light his way since she had proven on her earlier expedition that the locals couldn't see her.

They found the food quickly enough. Harry grabbed as much of it as he could hold in his hands before exiting the hut quickly, stuffing them into his pockets. From there Harry followed Lily down the corridor, then slightly out into the next corridor. Thankfully at this time of 'night it was empty.

Despite the smell of the food not being anything he had ever smelled before, his stomach seemed to understand that it was food! Indeed his stomach was beginning to growl at him by the time he left the watcher behind them so loudly Harry was afraid it would break through his silencing spell. With Lily moving back and forth down the corridor to watch out for other aliens coming up, Harry quickly began to scarf the food down, not even noticing the taste at first.

When he did he gagged a little but used to the meat of the animals on the night side as he had become, it wasn't actually that bad. The bread was a little spicy and far different in texture than normal bread, but still was easily the tastiest bit of the meal.

As soon as the food was in his stomach Harry immediately began to feel it doing his body a world of good, feeling some of his magic receding slightly while the rest of the magic that was so busy keeping him alive went to work sending the nutrients to where they needed to go far faster than they normally would ever have been able toHe was still starving after eating a little bit he had been able to take from the squatters, but even that little was enough to give him some more energy to work with now. With that in mind Harry moved after his mother in the direction of the main area, hoping that they could find some more food.

That first night was utterly centered on finding food and water, with the second being far harder to find than the first. There was no water fountains, no open pools, nothing of that nature. Eventually Harry found some containers that contain some kind of green liquid, which Lily said looked like alcohol of some kind. Harry transfigured it into water with relative ease and drank greedily, and for the first time in weeks was beginning to feel better.

He did have to dodge some of the aliens occasionally, but his chameleon, boring and silencing spells worked, allowing him to continue to explore. Eventually they found a small out-of-the-way alcove in one of the more well-to-do areas, and still covered in the dissolution spell Harry bedded down there, smiling faintly as his mother stood in front of him staring down into the cavern protecting him as he once again fell asleep.

 **OOOOOOO**

Other the next week or so Harry began to move around the corridors, continuing to steal food whenever he could, regaining his magical strength quickly. They still had problems however, simply because they didn't understand the local languages. This was a problem even after Harry and Lily saw their first humans, moving through one of the upper caverns. Both of them had smiled in happiness at seeing humans, realizing this meant this planet, or whatever, had regular contact with human. But they had frowned when the human male seemed to buy a local female, exchanging a grim look before following him silently.

They soon entered the largest cavern Harry had ever seen or even dreamed of. It looked larger than a football stadium, it looked so large that it could eat football stadium for lunch. Yet as large as it was, it was still full and still very busy and very noisy. Inside there were different species moving about, including humans, some others, the locals and more that Harry could see from where they were hiding along the edge of it.

But what really filled the cavern were dozens of what could only be spaceships of different models. Harry looked up and his mother in astonishment, then began to grin. "To boldly go…"

Lily shook her head sighing sadly. She had never really liked Star Trek, or at least not the show, the books were better. The uniforms were so stupid looking, especially for the women, skintight uniforms, really? _And of course now here I am as a ghost wearing the equivalent. Except my version was a marital aid. The irony, it burns, it stings._

The human they had followed into his cavern moved off toward one of the ships, followed by the seemingly obedient female local. "That's not good." Lily murmured, knowing that only Harry would be able to hear her.

When her son looked up at her Lily frowned then went into detail. "She's not fighting it, she looks obedient, almost as if this was normal." She frowned angrily. "Either she's been indoctrinated by birth, or all the women in this society are slaves." She watched as Harry scowled at the very idea smiling at her son's ire at the thought.

 _He might look like James for the most part, but in some ways he's all mine,_ she thought laughing silently in her head, remembering Harry's reaction to some of the tales of James she had shared. Despite how good a man he had become, James Potter had been a right prat for the first few years they had known one another.

"We'll need to think about what that could mean, and what this means." she said waving her hand at the ships in the future. "But let's get you back to 100% before that okay?"

Harry nodded, and the two of them made their way back through the large doors that separated this hangar bay from the rest of the caverns of the mountain.

And so it was for the next two weeks or so. Harry concentrated on scrounging food and water, eating and recovering as much as possible until he was back to what he felt was the best he could get. Yet his body wasn't the body shape he had left Earth with. That body had been somewhat malnourished, making him small for his age, and he had been somewhat weak as well.

But thanks to his need to rely on it for so long Harry' magic had seemingly taken the opportunity of time Harry to fix some of the problems of his was now at least 3 inches taller than he remembered being, and Harry knew he was stronger than he had been. Where before he was simply malnourished and week, he now possessed a certain wiry strength, and while he wasn't exactly the height of fitness, he was certainly far better, even if he didn't much more endurance than he had before. His eyes were also healed, which had happened sometime during their moving across the planet's surface. And his skin, which on the surface had been red and angry looking after the weeks spent out in the sun, had healed to a nice healthy tan.

After Harry returned to full health, Lily began to tell him more about magic, though still no new spells, since he seemed to make up his own, sometimes better versions with only a few hints. His transfiguration grew by leaps, not bound by any spell but his own imagination and ability to picture the effect. By the end of two days at full health their little hideaway more resembled a small bedroom complete with bed, covers and doorway, which was hidden further by more spells on it.

Watching as Harry levitated several large rocks in the air before changing them into cups and various dishes she shook her head with a laugh. "I'm really looking forward to teaching you what I remember about runes Harry, but I think we need to concentrate on the here and now first. Do you have any idea on how to break the language barrier we're running into?"

That was the largest issue facing their continued attempts to learn more about wherever they had ended up. Neither of them had an ear for languages, so couldn't understand anything that any of the alien said to one another. Despite this, they were able to pick up the fact that there were at least three different languages spoken on this planet.

One of them was obviously related to another, and the two Potters decided that might be simply the difference between the local spoken language's formal and informal styles. The third language however was obviously the one spoken by all of the alien races, a kind of trade language. That meant that should be the one that they learn. Neither of them however had any idea of how to go about doing so.

"I don't know," Harry said frowning thoughtfully as he put his new plates and things down in a small cupboard. He'd have to renew the spells in a day or so just like everything else in here, but until they began to revert they would be as useful as everything else had transfigured in the past few days. He still couldn't change something else into food though. "I think we need some kind of starting point, um, like that stone that's supposed to translate all those languages. I saw it on a history show once when the Dursleys were all out."

"Rosetta stone, and that's a good idea. There are spells that can help you figure out someone's intent or emotions but I don't know if they would work on aliens though."Lily said. "Maybe if we could find some kind of textbook or something we could figure something out by trying to match the printed word with the sounds we hear from the locals..."

"That sounds really, really hard, and kind of haphazard." Harry frowned. "But it gives me an idea. I bet they have something like primary school or the like, where they teach kids right? Let's see if we can find something like that."

Unfortunately that was harder than it sounded. For one thing, there was no such thing as a school for young kids here, though they found what was obviously a class on engineering: a large group of the locals and a few other races standing around a large machine while someone pointed out parts on it and two more worked on repairing it. For another, a lot of the population seemed to be enslaved to the rest, including some of the aliens who were obviously not locals. As such, their educational level was nil. It wasn't just the women, slavery seemed to be a main staple of the planet's economy.

"Why is that, do you think?" Harry asked softly, staring down at what was one of the richest looking areas they had so far explored. As usual he was hidden under several dozen spells, all of them intent on hiding his presence.

"I don't know, maybe this planet doesn't have any other resources it could use as capital. The locals are pretty good looking after all." Lily teased, having noticed her son blush a few times when faced with some of the local girls his own age or a little older dressed in their skimpy clothing. But then she went on more seriously. "I don't like it, or what it says about the universe in general that such a thing is accepted, but there's nothing we can do about it. And we still haven't figured out a way around the language barrier."

Harry frowned in turn, but then paused as he noticed something. Below him a group of slaves both old and young were being led toward one of the large mansions built into the rock all around them. One of the youngest was a blue color they hadn't seen before among the locals, whose skin colors seemed to range from white, to yellow to green for the most part.

But that wasn't what had caused Harry to stop speaking. That was the fact she was staring directly up at Lily! At first Harry thought it was him, and quickly checked himself, but found all his spells still in place. None of the other locals up to this point had done anything to indicate they even felt Lily's presence, but the young girl, despite being pulled along now, continued to stare. "Mum… that girl, she can see you!"

"Who?" Lily gasped, then looked in the direction Harry was pointing. "Hmmm… could she be a magic user? Magic users would be able to see me. Maybe they are just incredibly rare here, or perhaps they just aren't organized."

"I don't know, but I think we just found a way to start learning the local language." Harry grinned. "Just have to come up with a way to let her see me, and no one else…"

 **OOOOOOO**

Elsewhere in the mountain a small cruiser was arriving. It was a _Consular_ class out of the Corellian Star System, which was known as much for its bizarre nature as for the fact its denizens composed some of the best, and most combative, spacers in the entire Republic. The _Consular_ however was not a merchant or combat ship, though it could serve those roles. No, it was known primarily as a diplomatic ship, and this one was painted the red of neutrality as was usual on those missions. But the _Consular_ class was also predominantly used by the Jedi Order, as was the case with this one.

Some called the Jedi troublemakers, some called them a quasi-religious order devoted to meddling with things that they shouldn't. Others thought that they were troubleshooters of the Republic, and respected or loathed them for it, while still more looked up to them as a source of honor and dignity in the galaxy. It really depended on what planet you were on and what the Jedi were there to do really, just like normal police in many ways.

On this planet it caused some looks of consternation and anger from the rest of the spacers in the massive hangar bay high up the mountain, and more than one of them hurried away rapidly. Most of them however simply went about their business, those closest nodding to the two men who were walking down the gangplank of the ship. Whether that was because they had nothing to fear from them or because they knew that running would attract the Jedi's attention none could say.

"Master Tholme, I still don't understand why this one smuggling operation is of such import that it would require two Jedi to look into it, especially on a planet like Ryloth." Said the younger male turning to the older obviously continuing a conversation that must've started inside the ship. He was a wild haired young man, with the traditional apprentice knot falling down one side of his face, but with black, lanky hair falling down all around to his shoulders as well. He had a bright yellow bar of some kind of tattoo straight across his nose, a sign of the particular subset of humanity he represented, the Kiffar.

He was shaking his head as he walked down the gangplank his eyes looking around keenly. "If the Republic is going to allow this planet to continue to use the slavery of its own people as its main export, they have to realize that that's going to open the door for other illegal ventures."

"It comes down to politics my padawan," replied the older man in a calm tone of voice. He was slightly taller than his fellow, though the youngster obviously had growth still to look forward to. Tall thin and with prematurely graying hair, he radiated a sense of calm, controlled purpose. Yet even he was looking around interestedly, his senses spreading out. "It always comes down to politics. Some of the animals that are being shipped around are endangered and are from planets that follow the Republic's laws on such issues. They put pressure on the Senate to do something, and the Senate turned to us."

"And the senators still say they don't need a galactic peacekeeping force?" said the padawan shaking his head. "Master Tholme, that's ridiculous. And why did they send us here of all places to start searching? Finding something like that will be like finding, finding a single needle in a pile of them master!"

"Because Ryloth is where some of the evidence leads us to believe the operation is centered." Said the master still calmly, but now turning sharp eyes on his padawan. "You are anxious Quinlan." he stated bluntly. "You have been since he entered orbit. Why?"

"I, I do not know master." said the now named Quinlan humbly, bowing his head, though even so his eyes were still searching around. "The Force is trying to tell me something, but I cannot…I feel drawn somewhere though I can't seem to localize precisely where or why. Only that there is something I must do here, or maybe someone I need to find."

"And is that all you feel? My own senses are telling me something entirely different." Tholme replied, frowning in thought. The Force here felt strange, not dark, not warped, but strange. There was almost a loving warmth to it, a sense of happiness. He had never felt the like before, and the odd ripples were strange as well.

 _Could this be related to that massive splash of Force that was felt a few standard months ago?_ That splash of Force power had been felt by almost every Jedi in the galaxy, but it was so powerful the epicenter of it couldn't be found even by the best of them.

"It's hard to get a read on." he said aloud. "It's somewhere nearby, but nearby as in a mile away, or less? Spread your senses out my padawan, and tell me what you think."

Quinlan did so, hoping that this would also give him a chance to discover more about the feeling that apparently only he was getting of the two but it didn't work. Instead he got a glimpse of what his master was feeling and his eyes widened, cutting back to his master's face. "The Force is, is happy master? I don't know how best to describe it other than that. I didn't think that the Force itself could feel emotions like that."

"It has been known to occur on occasion, though not quite like this." Tholme replied, shrugging his shoulders and moving towards the giant hatchway leading deeper into the mountain that housed the main settlement of the Twi'leks. "There were a few instances of such occurring in the past, though I think that the last one was at least four or 500 years ago. The only one who would now would be master Yoda I suppose. Set that aside for now, we have a job to do. After that, we can stay around and see if we can satisfy our curiosity."

The padawan nodded, hurrying after him fingering a long cylinder that was resting on his belt for a moment when he noticed the looks that he they were getting from some quarters. _Like finding a single needle in a pile of them_ , Quinlan thought, shaking his head. _Still, if it wasn't a tough job, they wouldn't need Jedi for it._

 **OOOOOOO**

Aaylas'ecuras'ecura sighed sadly as she moved around her small room among the slave pens. It was separate and somewhat nicer than the others, which made her feel guilty when she thought about it. Yet even so, it was still a cage, and she was still a slave. Sent here to be a slave by her own uncle, ostensibly to hide her from their clan's enemies, but after more than two years she was beginning to think that maybe there was some other reason why.

But now her thoughts were not on her captivity, but on the human ghost-woman she had seen. A human ghost here was a question in and of itself, humans were rarely taken as slaves, at least as far as she knew. And how would one of them become a ghost anyway? And why couldn't no one else see it?

The ghost-woman had simply been hovering there in plain sight above one of the mansions, her mouth moving as if she was talking to someone. But it'd been obvious that she had seen Aaylas'ecura noticing her, because after a moment her eyes widened and she had looked straight at Aaylas'ecura. _I wonder what that was?_

Her thoughts ended abruptly when someone tapped on the cage door of her cell. She turned, expecting one of the guards to be there summoning her in her master's name for some reason or other, only to see a small human boy, taller than she was and possibly a little older, but not by much. He waved at her and she hesitantly waved back, wondering where he had come from.

 _Could he be an escaped slave, but there's no collar on him, and the slave masters always put those on all the non-twi'leks._ Twi'leks like her didn't require it so much, since most of them had been brought it up into slavery.

Aaylas'ecuras'ecura watched as the human boy raised a finger to his lips in the universal gesture for silence, then waved to one side. From out of Aaylas'ecura's range of vision the ghost-woman appeared, smiling gently down at Aaylas'ecura waving her hand. Aaylas'ecura waved back even more shyly, but looking between the two her eyes began to widen at the mystery that was happening here.

"See, I told you she could see you!" Harry said looking up at his mother in triumph.

Lily rolled her eyes and nodded. "All right Harry I believe you, now what are you going to do?"

"This." Harry said with a grin, and teleported through the bars with only a faint pop. His mother gaped at him, shaking her head in astonishment. Harry was really, **really** good at that, he hadn't even had to concentrate for long now that he could actually see what was in front of them. _Oh sure, teleporting like that at so short a distance isn't anything to write home about, but he's_ _ **very**_ _young to be so good at it already._

Aaylas'ecura backed away quickly, her mouth opened but the boy gestured for silence again and pulled out from a bag what looked like a children's reader. Aaylas'ecura cocked her head, watching as the boy pointed at it and his mouth saying something in a language she didn't know.

"I can't speak the local dialect, so I'm trying to teach myself." Harry said conversationally, keeping his tone light and conversational, knowing that the girl must've been frightened by his sudden show of magic. "I was wondering if you'd like to help?"

"Harry she can't understand you." Lily rolled his eyes.

"I know," Harry replied "but I think she can point and say things can't she?"

Lily nodded, thinking it a very inefficient way of you learning a new language, but they were really at their wits end right now and she was impressed and proud of Harry's problem solving skills. _One more sign that he is not the average wizard._

The boy opened the picture book, pointing at the first picture and saying a word. The picture was that of a food animal, and Aaylas'ecura frowned, before understanding dawned. "You can't speak Ryl?" she asked aloud, watching as the boy stared at her blankly. She switched to Galactic Standard, which she was learning, and spoke hesitantly in that language. Still nothing. _But then where did he come from? Everyone from off-world speaks Galactic Standard, don't they?_

Still she understood now what he was asking. And said "that is a Rycrit, Rycrit!" she repeated pointing at the picture.

The boy smiled lopsidedly, and Aaylas'ecura found herself smiling back. _This is kind of fun!_

He put the puncture put down, and slapped his chest saying "Harry."

Aaylas'secura did the same to her own chest "Aaylas'secura."

The boy frowned trying to say her name as two different names, then saying hesitantly "Aalya, Aayylaa, Aayla?"

The girl nodded. "Close enough." She'd been told humans tended to do that, taking apart the two portions of the Twi'lek name as they did their own.

Harry nodded "Aayla." Then he gestured at himself and the ghost woman and said "Human."

That took a bit more time before Aayla got it and she nodded tapping her own chest again. "Twi'lek."

Harry smiled again, raising a thumbs up gesture to her to which Aayla did the same. Then she looked around, wondering why no one else was hearing this. The boy smirked, seemingly understanding what she was wondering, and wiggled his fingers. Suddenly underneath his fingers there appeared a small furry thing of some kind.

At first Aayla thought it was an animal and backed away quickly, but it didn't move and the boy picked it up, tossing it to toward her. She caught it cautiously, feeling it's fur against her hands, and giggled a little. "It's furry!" she exclaimed, holding it up to her face and rubbing her face against it for a moment.

Harry watched her with a smile on his face, then gestured around. Harry teleported back through the doorway, then back again into the small cell. "Magic."

Aayla looked at him thoughtfully then shrugged her shoulders. Such things were children's stories, but she understood what he was trying to say. So she nodded her head. "Whatever you say, strange human Harry." She smiled, her lekkus' tips waving excitedly. Whatever this was, it was a lot more fun than simply going to sleep or playing on the reader her master allowed her.

The boy smiled, not understanding her words but her tone. Tone and body language were the same for humans and Twi'leks, only missing the subtle gestures of the tentacles that were in point of fact a whole other language on their own. Still humans didn't have tentacles, poor things, so couldn't be asked to know about them.

He turned to the ghost woman, and began to speak in that language that Aayla couldn't follow. "What do you think mum, should we take her with us? Or should we just keep coming back every night?"

"What do you mean take her with us?" Lily asked.

"Well she's a slave isn't she, she'd want to be free right? And I can find enough food for the both of us easily enough."

Lily nodded thoughtfully, also understanding this would be a chance for them to strike back in a small way against what they thought of as a great wrong: the fact that slavery was so pervasive here. "I suppose, and she is a magic user, she can see me easily enough, and she's able to talk to you too before you put up that silencing spell." Harry had figured out how to create his own version of a muggle repelling charm easily enough. "All right, but teleporting between the bars with another person is going to be a lot more difficult Harry."

Harry nodded, then turned back to Aayla who'd been watching the conversation but unable to follow it. He gestured at the book that he had brought along, then at himself then at Aayla, moving his fingers back and forth between the two of them. "You teach me this," he said gesturing down to the book again "and I'll get you out," he went on, gesturing out past the bars.

For a moment Aayla cocked her head, trying to figure out what he was trying to say, but after another repetition she got it. "You want me to teach you how to talk, and you'll, you'll get me out of here?" She asked hesitantly, standing up from where she had been sitting on the floor of her cell and moving forward, gesturing out past the bars then pointing at Harry and herself.

Harry did the same, then back at the book before holding out his hands palm up.

"So in return for me teaching you, you'll get me out?" For a moment Aayla frowned at that. She had it much better than most of the other slaves here, but she knew it would be only a matter of time before she was sold to another owner, and not that long a time any longer either. Rutian Twi'leks like her were very rare, and there was always a buyer out there who didn't care about the age of the slave so long as they were past the fresher-training stage.

For a moment her thoughts went to her uncle who had sold her to her Hutt master supposedly in an effort to hide her, or so he said. Then she shrugged her shoulders, but she had become certain that was a lie over the years. _And besides, it has been so long since something new and interesting happened! Whatever this is, it is both!_

So Aayla nodded her head eagerly and reached forward with her own hands to clasp Harry's. Harry grinned at her, pulling one hand away to point up to his eyes and closing them for a moment squeezing them tight before opening them before indicating Aayla with that hand. But he didn't let go of her other hand. After a second Aayla nodded closing her eyes. For some reason she trusted this boy, and the strange ghost-woman.

There was a moment of disorientation, and she opened her eyes quickly, only to gasp aloud as she realized they were now outside her cell. She looked back into it, then at Harry and grinned. She nodded her head rapidly. "Good!"

Harry smiled and turned as did Lily, who reached down to ruffle his hair with her fingers for a moment before leading the way off while Harry made several strange gestures around Aayla, covering her with spells. With that he began to pull her along, having to pull quite hard when Aayla noticed a guard further up the passage moving towards them. But then she noticed he wasn't looking at them, almost as if he couldn't see them.

Harry leaned in whispering in her ear "Magic."

The girl looked at him, then mouthed the sounds. "Ma'gic." She grinned and nodded her head, then hastened on with Harry out of the Hutt's mansion, avoiding vid-recorders where the ghost-woman pointed them out. Aayla reasoned that whatever strange ability the boy was using couldn't work on electronics.

Soon after that Aayla found herself in a small but very neat and very comfortable hideaway. It had some food set up on top of a cabinetthat looked to be part of a wall, plates and other things all around. A large bed rising out of the ground dominated the small room, complete with soft mattress and even blankets. She trailed her fingers along the blanket for a moment, looking all around her in wonder, a wide, happy smile on her face.

Harry smiled back at her and said simply "Welcome to my home. I always wanted a big, comfy bed, and then I found out how to transfigure things, so here we are." With that he moved over to the food, cutting up some kind of meat animal that Aayla hadn't seen before. Actually, it was simply transfigured Twi'lek cuisine, but Harry had got into the habit of transfiguring it to things he recognized as food, chicken in this case.

He held it out to her, and she reached forward without hesitation, plucking it out of his fingers and chewing on it then smiling happily at the taste nodding her head. Harry nodded back, while behind them the ghost woman entered. Aayla and Harry both turned, and she smiled down at them in a way that made Aayla looked away shyly. There was something happy and very kind about that smile, something Aayla had never seen before.

She looked up as she felt fingers on her for head, and gasped in shock seeing Lily gently touching her lekku near her head, but with that same kind of smile on her face. Then the ghost woman gestured at herself and said "Lily."

Aayla nodded dutifully. "Lily".

The woman smiled and gestured towards the bed. "She's definitely magical Harry. You might want to teach her a bit about how to perform some spells just in case."

"You don't think she'll need a focus? You always made it sound as if that was a must for most wizards and witches."

"She might, but even learning that would be a good thing, don't you think?"

Harry nodded then pulled out the children's reader again and sat on the bed, gesturing Aayla to sit next to him. "That's a good idea, but first I think we need to start to learn how to talk to one another don't you?"

Having not followed the conversation and not really caring, Aayla sat cross-legged in front of him and the language lessons began.

 **OOOOOOO**

"I assure you that your search is in vain, all of my goods are above board! My books and even the two cargo freighters here at present are open for your perusal of course, but you won't find what you're searching for among my good." Said the Twi'lek in front of Master Tholme, one Pol'secura, head of the Secura clan.

He was a Rutian Twi'lek, and a somewhat obese one, a sign of wealth and power among his people. Given the conditions here on their home planet the Twi'leks very rarely had more food than what was the minimal requirement, one of several reasons why they had been so eager to sell themselves into slavery for interstellar trade.

"I rather think you're right, however we have to be thorough." said Master Tholme, not allowing any of his real thoughts appear on his face. The Twi'lek put out so many waves of anxiety, which spiked when they mentioned what they were here to look for, that it was obvious they had found at least one of the people involved in the endangered animal trade.

That would allow them more time to hunt down whatever the local disturbance in the Force was. The joyful feeling in the Force had grown since their arrival, and now he too was feeling a sense of purpose here, much like his padawan. Whatever their official purpose, the Force was hinting that there was more here to be discovered, perhaps someone as well.

 _And the sooner we finish our investigation, whatever the outcome of that, the sooner I can devote all of my time to that search along with my padawan's._ Even now his padawan was moving through the caverns of the Twi'lek city, trying to sense whatever it was that the Force was hinting at.

The Twi'lek smiled at Tholme's words, then frowned as one of his aides entered. "Why are you interrupting us!?" he barked.

"Clan Leader," the Twi'lek said in Ryl bowing his head, his tentacles twitching and agitation. "The Hutt is on the line."

Pol frowned, gesturing at the Jedi master. "Forgive me, but I have to take this. Politics, you understand."

"Often the Order's bane as well." Tholme replied sagely, nodding his head. He could feel another spike in Pol's emotions, sudden tension and anxiety a palpable wave to his senses, and wondered what had gone wrong somewhere else for the Twi'lek . As Pol left, the Jedi master sat down in his chair, closing his eyes and concentrating, sending his consciousness out through the Force to follow the man.

Soon enough the Twi'lek had hurried into a small communications room. "What is it, you know you're not supposed to be contacting me!" He said in Huttese, a language that Tholme had learned as a matter of course, since he preferred to work on the Outer Rim of the Republic, where Huttese was almost as universally spoken as Galactic Standard.

"We have a problem. Your niece is missing. She was gone from her cell this morning, without anyone the wiser. I've had the guards on duty last night flogged for that, but I have no lead on where she went."

The man gaped at the HUD and astonishment. "How could a young girl of nine have escaped from your slave pens!"

With that Tholme pulled his senses back frowned thoughtfully. _Interesting, very interesting, I think I just found a target for my padawan's side of this search_.

 **OOOOOOO**

For several local days Harry and Aayla learned together, with Aayla teaching Harry many of the words and even some of the sentence structure of the Twi'lek people. In turn, on their second day together Harry began to teach Aayla how to concentrate, indicating that it was the first stage of teaching her magic.

That was incredibly difficult to get across thanks to their inability to communicate well, but Aayla was very intelligent and understood what Harry was trying to explain, and even had something to show for it quickly. Before that second day was done, she was able to hover a small pebble a few inches above her hand.

While Aayla was giggling and dancing around in delight, chanting "ma'gic" to herself Lily shook her head. "I don't know what it is here Harry, but I think the magical aura of the planet itself is somehow easier to use than Earth's. That and her own power are the only two explanations I have for Aayla being able to learn so quickly."

At hearing her name, Aayla turned, staring up at Lily with a wide smile on her face, as she held up the stone. A second later it began to float above her palm again, and Lily clapped her hands, making a sound only they could hear. "Well done!" Lily smiled, and watched as the girl flushed in pleasure at the positive reinforcement even if she couldn't understand the words.

Harry nodded with a smile. "Maybe that, or maybe magic users have been wrong about when to start teaching magic before this."

"I think it's possibly all three. Well, in any event, I think that you need to head out and find some more food for the two of you. For such a small thing, she eats more than you do these days." Lily laughed, reaching out to ruffle her son's hair.

"Okay." Harry smiled at Aayla, then made a motion toward his mouth. "Food. Harry, get." That was about as good as Harry could do with his current ability to speak what he had learned was called 'Ryloth.'

Aayla looked at him, before she nodded and set her pebble down. Then she moved to stand beside him, looking at Harry expectantly. Lily frowned. "I think Aayla want's to go with you."

"Well, I can cover her with the spy special I guess," Harry said, speaking of the number of spells Harry had come up with to help him move around without being seen. "If I were Aayla I don't think I'd like to be left behind too."

"That's either there dear, but alright. This way I can go along as usual anyway to keep an eye on you."

With that Harry nodded at Aayla, gesturing around the two of them. "Speak, I hear, Twi'lek no." He said, substituting the word for the local species with the word 'other' since he didn't know that one yet. After a moment, Aayla understood what he said and nodded her head, still grasping his hand.

Leaving Harry's small hideaway the two children made their way through the mountain's interior moving toward the small area among the richest zone where Harry knew they would find food stalls. Aayla looked around her avidly every step of the way, never having been allowed out save on the Hutt's land.

She eagerly gestured at some of the foodstuffs on sale, watching as Harry stole a few things with on one the wiser. The two of them split a frozen bar of Ryloth Ice cream, a hideously expensive treat that Aayla had always wanted to try, while they moved through the crowd.

After about an hour however their fun was interrupted by a deep baritone roar, followed by the screams of those nearby.

 **OOO About an hour previous: OOO**

Pol Secura's position as head of Clan Secura was not a secure one. While one of his brothers had died, the other, Lon, was still around, and while young, was well liked both inside the clan and out. Worse from the Republic's perspective was Pol's illegal contraband trading, including the issue the Jedi were here to look into.

But Pol's position in the clan itself was so tenuous he had gotten rid of his older brother's daughter, Aayla, in such a way to enrich himself and to make it seem as if she had been hidden away to protect her from the clan's enemies. But if Lon or any of the rest of the clan learned he had sold her to a Hutt, the consequences for Pol would be dire. So he and the Hutt in question, whose name was Lirraca, had decided to cut their losses.

"Are you certain of this master?" said a medical droid, entering a large cage, holding in one of its hands a blanket that Aayla would have recognized. It's other hand, a multi-tool, was open to the syringe, and a drug of some kind was already percolating through it. "Once used, TZ1-052 will make any further training of the subject impossible."

"Do it droid." Said Lirraca the Hutt, an obese slug of a creature, speaking via a communicator set onto the droid's head. "It must be done, and it is not the loss of the wampa that I regret. Shame, she would have made me a pretty profit down the line." With the Hutt equivalent of a sigh, the crime lord cut the connection, opening the cage behind the droid and the doors to the outside of his underground mansion at the same time.

The droid gave an electronic snarl that was his version of a sigh, and then proceeded with what he had been ordered to do. He moved toward the sleeping creature, first waking it up by holding a piece of meat under its nose. The massive mountain of dirty white fur growled, and chomped on it with serrated teeth, ripping and tearing.

After it was finished its meal, the droid silently held up the blanket taken from slave Secura's quarters. "Seek and kill." It intoned in a sort of hypnotic, droning tone. "Seek and kill." It went on in this vein for several moments, until the wampa was blinking it's eyes and shaking it's head, trying to sniff out the trail already.

With the command imbedded in the semi-trained wampa, the droid swiftly jabbed in the syringe, pumping it full of the drug underground gladiators everywhere in the Republic called 'Brainbash', because while it would give the body an immense boost, it would also destroy the person's brain if taken in all but the smallest doses. Even for the massive creature's weight, what the droid had just injected was more than large enough to destroy what little mental acuity it originally possessed.

The droid backed away rapidly, watching as the wampa's eyes went bloodshot, and it roared. "RAAAROOOOO!" A second later it heaved at its chains, all previous training gone, it's entire being now centered on the last thing it remembered, a scent, the smell of its prey. And nothing would be allowed to get in its way.

The droid began to back away rapidly, watching as the restraints on the wampa strained against its enhanced strength. "Oh dear." Before the droid could leave the cage, the beast's chains broke and it charged forward. "Oh deaaaazzzzhhghhsh….."

Moments later the wampa was gone, roaring its way out of the Hutt's mansion, leaving a trail of destruction, though not death, Liracca having pulled all his people out of its way. Almost immediately after the creature left some of those servants droids and slaves, went to work, making it look as if the creature had escaped without any kind of aid, even supplying a few dead bodies just in case.

But before they could get to the wampa's cage and dispose of the medical droid, Quinlan got there first. Master Tholme was a master at covering his presence and had passed on this skill to his padawan, who was using it to the utmost now. Once in the cage Quinlan reached down, touching the medical droid's mangled head, closing his eyes. After a moment he frowned, setting it into a small pack he carried on his back. The next thing Quinlan touched was the blanket.

The Kiffar people were unique in that some of them were born with the ability to use psychometry, the ability to see images of the past taken from an object. Quinlan was remarkably gifted in that area, and it served him now, as did the Force. Suddenly in that moment Quinlan knew, he knew what, or rather who, he personally was here to find, the image of the young blue-skinned Twi'lek girl appearing in his mind with a clarity he had never seen before.

And he also knew that she was in danger, the Force was practically clamoring for his attention. Dropping the blanket back to the floor Quinlan hurried out of Lirraca's mansion, using his skills at covering his presence until he was out and on the maddened wampa's trail.

 **OOOOOOO**

Aayla and Harry both turned staring through the crowd, before Harry quickly grabbed Aayla, pulling her down to hide under one of the stalls with him. This was actually more to get them out of the way of the running crowd than to hide them from sight. The spells Harry had put on the two of them would still hide them from sight if someone bumped into them (and given the chaos around them Harry doubted anyone would really notice) but the spells wouldn't protect either child from being trampled under by the crowd.

Lily hovered above them, frowning angrily. "I don't know what's going on you two, but stay put there, alright Harry? I think I see a better hiding place than under that stall, but we might need to wait for the crowd to disperse a little more.

The two of them watched for a moment, with Aayla clutching at Harry's hand, then gasping as the thing which had caused the chaos came into sight. "Wampa!" Aayla had seen the monster before, since her master used wampas as sort of guard dogs on his property. At that thought, an ugly idea came to her. _Could the Hutt be using the wampa to try and track me?_

Desperately she reached out, pulling Harry's face toward her. "Can someone smell us?"

Harry looked at her blankly, his brows furrowing at the look of fear on Aayla's face. But he didn't understand what she was saying. Aayla sniffed audibly, pointing at her nose, then at Harry and her own chest, before pointing out at the wampa.

She watched as Harry's eyes widened and he nodded understanding. Harry didn't know why Aayla was concerned about the thing she called a wampa, but it seemed as if she was worried it would scent them. He tried frantically to think of a spell that would cover their smell.

He never got the chance. Above them Lily gasped. "Harry watch out, I think it's...!"

By that point the wampa had smashed through what few people were still in the area, the rest having rather sensibly run away rather than fight it. In this area of the city, very few people went around armed, a sign of the wealth of the area this now worked against the people living there. Now with its real prey near the beast ripped the top off the stall, reaching forward for the two children hidden under it. "RAAHHH!"

Frantically Harry gestured up with both hands, using the same spell Lily had taught him before his fight against the burrower on the night sight of the planet. "Stupefy!" A red circle which to Aayla looked like some kind of stun bolt flew out his hands at the wampa, slamming into the wampa with enough force to throw it several feet backwards head over tail. Yet even so it didn't knock the wampa out. The monster, got to his feet angrily roaring a challenge.

Harry gestured again, throwing a nearby rock at the wampa, concentrating hard. Midair it seemed to shimmer and change, just like the plates Harry had enlarged the evening after he had helped Aayla escape. It turned into a slim knife which embedded itself in the wampa's shoulder, causing it to roar and stumble to one side right into another red blast of some kind.

Aayla stared to one side as she Lily's voice shouting something. The ghost-woman had found her way up to a top of a nearby home cut out of the rock of the cavern. Now she was floating there, gesturing toward what might be a small hiding place up there. "Harry, levitate the two of you up to this roof, that thing doesn't look like it can climb sheer rock!"

Harry nodded, and grabbing up Aayla's hand again, he gestured down at the ground of the cavern below them with his free hand. A second later the two of them were suddenly in the air flying over the wampa's charge. Instead of grappling with its prey the beast lammed headfirst into the wall behind their former position.

The two of them floated higher into the air until they alighted on to one of the rooftops of buildings around them. Aayla stared around her in amazement, never having expected Harry could fly before this. She laughed, gripping his hand hard, while Harry smiled at her, setting the two of them down on the roof by his mother.

Below them the wampa began to look around for its prey angrily. Then suddenly it turned, staring at a young human male who was stepping out into the corridor from another room, staring first at it then up at where the two children. Were still visible, then at Lily, his eye's widening. Lily noticed this and gasped. "Harry, he can see me too, I think he's another local magic user!"

Harry and Aayla both looked at the young man, who Harry guessed was in his teen years somewhere. He was a wild looking sort of fellow, with a bar of a yellow tattoo of some kind across his nose, and long hair down to his shoulders. He wore simple clothing, a robe of some kind, but it wasn't his looks or his clothing that made Aayla gasp. It was the cylinder at his waist, the sign of the Jedi. "Jedi!"

At that cry the man turned stared up at them, smiling slightly and waving. The wampa however had enough of being ignored, and charged. Before the creature could cover even a single step, the young man's lightsaber was in his hand and activated. He whirled, the sword at chest height coming around and bisecting the creature from the waist. By the time the wampa realized it was dead, the Jedi was to one side of its collapsing body, not even getting any blood on his cloak.

With that done, he turned to stare up at the ghost and the two children. "Hello children, I heard your call for help, though it appears as if it wasn't necessary."

"Oh I don't know Quinlan, I think you did a decent enough job, and thanks to your efforts we have enough evidence to take both the Hutt and Pol Secura under arrest. We might even make the charges stick, at least on Pol." Said another voice, and Lily and the two children turned their heads to see another human male walking up from behind the first.

This human was obviously older, and where the young one gave off a wild feel, he gave off an aura of calm control. He smiled at the younger man, then nodded, and both of them leaped up quickly onto the surface of the rooftop next to them. The older man stared at Lily, while the younger seemed to find Aayla fascinating, though admittedly the opposite could be said too. Aayla was staring at him as well, though not, Lily felt, in anything but simple fascination.

The older man bowed profoundly to her. "Milady, you are the first Force Ghost I have ever seen. I am Jedi Master Tholme, and this is my padawan, Quinlan Vos. May I ask your name?"

Lily smiled back, speaking in her own language. "I'm sorry, I can't understand you." The man frowned in consternation at not understanding her, and she shrugged her shoulders moving over to Harry, ruffling his hair with a few of her fingers, a sight that made the older man gasp. "I think they're wizards Harry, or the local equivalent. Maybe we can ask them to help our own learning along."

The boy responded in that same kind of language, while Tholme looked between the two of them. Quinlan pulled his eyes away from the young Rutian Twi'lek, looking at his master. "Master, what does this mean?"

"I think my young padawan, that we have solved one, perhaps two mysteries only to find even more." Tholme glanced at the Force Ghost, the boy, and the young extremely talented Twi'lek girl. Tholme had arrived in time to see the boy fly, not Force Jump, but fly, something that very few masters could do for very long. He wondered if that was all, and was determined to find out.

 _A Force Ghost of a woman whose face I have never seen in the archives, a boy who can already consciously use the Force who resembles her and who seems to speak the same tongue, along with a young Force user of respectable strength. And both children having the looks of those who have led hard lives, the boy in particular. This has been a most interesting day, and will be the first of many I feel._

With that thought, Master Tholme went to his knees in front of the two children. "I know not what you are saying lad, and I have honestly no idea how you went so long without being found. But" he said holding out his hand "I can tell you have had a hard life. But if you trust me, I will aid you."

The boy looked at him uncertainly, gently nudging Aayla behind him as if protecting her. This made Aayla feel warm and fuzzy inside, making her hold onto his hand all the tighter. She felt a connection to the young padawan Quinlan, but Harry had saved her from her life of slavery, had taught her many things already, and had saved her just now from the wampa.

Harry turned slightly to stare at Aayla, who stared back into his eyes, then up at Lily, who smiled at them both. "We have to start trying to trust someone Harry, and this is the first human we've seen who wasn't obviously connected to the slave trade, and he did apparently intend to help you. Plus, Aayla seems to know what these two are, which counts in their favor as well."

After a moment Harry turned from her to stare at the two 'Jedi' who hadn't moved from their positions, the older one still on his knees still holding out his hands. Finally he looked down at Aayla then moved his head slightly indicating the two men. "Do you trust him?"

Even though she didn't understand the words, Aayla somehow knew what Harry was asking, and without hesitation moved around him, still holding his hand in hers tightly as she held out her own hands towards the older human male. He smiled, allowing their palms touch but not taking her hand in his still holding out his other hand towards Harry.

Harry stared into his eyes, and the human male stared back calmly, a faint smile on his face still as he held out his hands. After a second's hesitation, Harry reached forward taking Tholme's hand in his own. Only now did Tholme allow his hands to squeeze the child's children's. He nodded at them, standing up and then nodded at the Force Ghost. "In that case, I think we need to head back to my ship. I have a protocol droid there, and the first thing you need to do is to teach the two of you how to speak Galactic Standard. I have no idea how you can't speak it my lady, but I am certain that there is a lot more going on here than I can understand right now."

Somehow the Force ghost seemed to understand a little bit of that, not the words but his intention and she smiled, reaching down again to touch the heads of the two children gently, which made them both smile up at her. Then she nodded at the two human males and floated down to the ground.,

Quinlan nodded in turn, moving forward to pick up Aayla into his arms, stopping a moment to stare into her eyes, as she did the same. Looking at them Tholme smiled. _The apprentice bond, interesting._

He turned to do the same with the last youngster, only to find that the young boy had already jumped off the roof, floating down rapidly to join the Force Ghost. Both of them waved at Quinlan and Aayla, and Quinlan jumped after them, landing easily while Tholme shook his head, staring down at the emerald eyed boy. _Yes indeed, interesting days abound._ With a snort of laughter, he too jumped off the roof, joining the very odd group below.

 **End chapter**

* * *

Yes, I know I changed Aayla age here, making her a nine year old rather than a two year old. I always thought that the whole 'we don't take kids older than their toddler years was idiotic. It doesn't take that long to brainwash kids, and you don't have to start that young, look at what the Nazi's did in WW2 with their Hitler Youth Program, or today and child soldiers. It makes it easier of course, since they don't remember having any ties to family, but it isn't necessary, just a good guideline. I will cut out time later during the training years, which will be different yes.

As you can see, this would be a very different story than my Ranma/SW crossover. I won't say it would be a 'fix it all' universe, but certainly Harry and Lily's interaction with the Jedi Order would have profound changes on both sides. The problem will be to decide how many of those changes should seep out to the Sith, and how large those changes will be as time goes on. This would also be a full universe merge, rather than simply taking a character (or two) and implanting them in the SW universe.

Obviously Dumbledore here is manipulative, though I haven't decided yet if he is evil, hope that it was ambivalent here. Pairings would be Aayla/Harry obviously, with maybe two more girls added later. One of them will almost certainly be Hermione, but not Luna, sorry guys, I just don't think I could write her character well enough to do her justice, and it's been done before. I will say however that she will be a character in the future, as well as at least one, possibly two students from Hogwarts who will suddenly be shown to have otherworldly origins.

Some of you might be asking what happened with my poll, and I have to say that I was rather disappointed with it. Not with the actual poll, I got a lot of votes, but that wasn't really the point. What I wanted was for people to realize that they could've gotten more votes by PM'ing me, and I only got about six, seven people who realized that, and about twenty who PM'd me to ask why WW or ATP weren't in the poll...

And while GDWHOM won, and I will be putting out chapters for it over the other stories I've already started, I decided to put out teaser chapters for the three story ideas that got the most votes, in part because people actually PM'd me about them, whereas only two people PM'd me about GDWHOM. So I will post a WW chapter and a new teaser chapter until WW is done, which should be in about February or so, after that I will post a new poll as to the second long term story I will take up along with ATP. Next month will be Fate Touched in Middle Earth, followed by Wizard of the Dead - which is just bizarre to me, but whatever, I have ideas there so I'll share them, even if I think the reason it got so many votes was people like the hentai inherent in that universe. Will warn you, the actual plot will be far different from what is on my profile. I will also attempt to update a random story I've already posted, we'll see how it goes.

If you want to earn more than one vote in that poll, you may PM me and if you have actual reasons other than 'I like this do it!' or 'I like the echiness in so and so, so do that' I will place five points toward it. I will be started a spreadsheet to keep it all organized. Or, you can head over to my account. For every reason/argument a contributor makes, I will add five points along with points taken from their contribution.

As always, I hope you enjoyed this, and please review.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Harry Potter, or Star Wars for far too many reasons to list here, alas.

The first of Santa-Vimes' gifts to one and all!

I would like to thank Kathryn518 for her help with the force/magic infusion as well as a few other character/plot based points. I would also like to thank ultimaflare0 for his work on editing this chapter. Hopefully now it won't have nearly as many mistakes. Stupid compare two versions MW crap...

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Learning Abounds**

The two newcomers, whose names apparently were Quinlan and Master Tholme according to Aayla, led the two youngsters and their nominally unseen follower to their ship quickly. Once inside, the two youngsters were shown to a circular sofa set into a small recess in the floor, which Aayla immediately jumped up onto, bouncing in glee. "It's almost as soft as your bed Harry!"

Harry grinned following her and sitting next to her. She took his hand then first looked towards Lily, something that Tholme noticed, then Quinlan expectantly. _Even if Quinlan is forming a padawan bond with her, it's obvious that the Force ghost has a lot of respect in her eyes. I need to discover why and how the Force Ghost came to be following these two around._

Ignoring that at present, he gestured to a small doorway to one side of the small sitting room. This led into the equally small maintenance room of the ship, where the ship's two astromech droids and the translation droid were kept when not needed. As Jedi, Tholme and Quinlan had their own means to translate someone else's language into words they could comprehend, but they could not make someone else understand them in turn. "Glimmer, could you come out here please?"

A moment later a protocol droid came out of the maintenance room. It was slightly shorter than most of it's breed, and painted with light yellow and pale tan. How he got the name Glimmer, Tholme didn't know nor care, but the droid had proven its worth more than once. "Yes Master Tholme, what do you require of me?" It's voice was slightly high but wasn't grating, and the droid did have some understanding of how annoying protocol droids could be, so tended to keep a low profile unless called on, which served Tholme just fine.

"This young man speaks a language unknown to me, I was wondering if you could help me translate it." Tholme replied then looked at the young boy, gesturing at his mouth as he spoke, his Force powers reaching out to lightly touch the boy's mind. "I want you to speak Harry, this droid will help us understand each other."

Harry looked at him then returned his gaze to the droid, a look of awe on his face. Even after a few weeks living among the Twi'leks, he was not used to the level of technology in this new universe, if that was where he had ended up rather than way the heck out in space. "I don't know what he wants me to say."

Aayla noticed his confusion, and quickly pulled out the children's reader, holding it up then pointing at the droid, using her fingers to draw a circle around the book. "The droid will learn your language Harry, like you're trying to learn Standard with this."

Harry then understood and smiled, though he didn't really know what to say and sort of rambled at first.. "Um, okay. My name is Harry Potter, and this is my mum, Lily. We speak English, er, though I've heard it called Queen's English for some reason at times, other English speaking countries don't use the right words. At least according to the Dursleys, not that it's really a mark against them in my book. Are you wizards, or well, what do you lot call magic users here? You don't really look like how I'd pictured high tech wizards would look, but that energy sword thing is wicked!"

"Boys," Lily muttered, shaking her head at that comment, though her attention remained on the two men.

Tholme smiled, having understood the meaning behind the boy's words even if the sounds themselves meant nothing thanks to his Force powers. A gentle touch of the Force to the other person's mind allowed Jedi to understand other people, even if they couldn't speak Standard for one reason or another.

He frowned at the feeling he felt from the boy when he used the term, or was it a name, 'Dursleys' however. _A flash of agony, fear, desperation, pain, perhaps he was abused at some point? That would fit the facts somewhat and is not a good sign for his acceptance into the Order. Memories like that can all too easily lead him to the Dark Side. But where does his, his mum? Is that another term for mother, where does she come into things?_

That in itself was a somewhat shocking idea, that a Force user powerful enough to leave behind a Force Ghost would have a child, and not only because it was a gross violation of the Order's tenets against emotion, attachment, and the Ruusan Reformation's laws forbidding Jedi to marry. But Tholme had already been leaning to the woman not having been a Jedi anyway, so that really didn't matter much beyond the connection. _But that attachment will not be looked at favorably by the majority of the Order. Especially if they can communicate as well as they obviously can, which means she may be teaching him as well._

To one side Lily's eyes narrowed. "Harry, I think he understands what you're saying now. Keep talking, tell him how we arrived here, that should get a reaction. But don't mention our little moment in-between, alright?"

Nodding his head, Harry went on, his eyes tracking from the droid to Tholme. "I discovered I was different from everyone around me, and began to perform experiments with my magic powers. Then Vernon came home and took out a very bad day's work out on me. " he shivered in remembered pain and found Aayla hugging him almost immediately, her big brown eyes staring worriedly at him.

He smiled at her and then went on, trying to figure out how to explain where his mother came from without mentioning the powers that be or the soul fragment that had been in his head. "I knew that if the beatings continued they might kill me, so I was desperate. I just, I just took all the magic I could from within me and from outside and begged to be somewhere else. My mom had done something to protect me with her very soul, and appeared to help me when I began to pull magic from the area around me, and then we suddenly found ourselves on Ryloth."

Tholme's eyes narrowed slightly. He could feel the boy was prevaricating, not lying so much as badly simplifying things, and thus hiding some aspect of the tale. However, the truth of the tale was enough to make him realize a few things. _So he somehow, what would the word be, teleported himself through the Force. Astonishing, and a sign of the danger he was in, but I've never heard of anything of the like before._ The boy's use of the word magic didn't worry him so much, he knew that primitive civilizations often called the Force magic.

The other thing though that made Tholme's eyes narrow was how his mother had appeared. The emerald eyes they both shared was a sign they were related, and looking closely Tholme could see several other hints in their faces of that. But the idea his mother had 'done something to protect him', was bizarre sounding. It smacked almost of sacrifice. And while Tholme could detect no hint of the Dark Side in either of them, sacrifice, particularly if it let the individual leave their soul behind when they died, was a sign of the Dark Side.

Across from Tholme, Lily frowned angrily. "He definitely understood you Harry." There was only one way that a person could be doing that, which was to be reading the thoughts from Harry's mind as he was thinking the words, hence her frown. "Remind me to teach you how to protect you mind from that kind of thing Harry." she said seriously after explaining Legelimancy.

Harry too frowned, but looking at Quinlan, Tholme and then Aayla he could see the trust she had in them, so decided to let it go for now. _It's not like I would understand if he asked me for permission anyway, that'd be a very weird thing to try to explain with pictures, wouldn't it?_ "Aayla trusts him so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt even if he is reading my mind."

"No." Tholme said simply, having of course understood that. Though he made another mental note that Lily seemed to have picked up on what he was doing but didn't understand the particulars. Reaching out he picked up the children's reader, putting his hand over the picture on it only letting the words be seen for a moment. "I am only reading your surface thoughts, which allows me to understand you, nothing more."

Harry and Lily looked at one another, and Lily shrugged. "We can't prove it, but I suppose you're right Harry, we should at least continue to give them the benefit of the doubt."

The disjointed conversation was interrupted at that point by Glimmer shaking his head. "Master Tholme, I have compared the sounds of young Harry's spoken language to all the languages I contain in my database and cannot place it. I am afraid that while I can tell when he is using names, and that his name is Harry Potter, I can tell you nothing new. I could learn his language given time, it has many of the same organizational patterns as Galactic Standard. However it would take time."

Tholme nodded. "Thank you Glimmer remain on standby for now, we might call on you to help him learn Standard instead." Glimmer nodded moving to stand in a corner as Harry tracked his motion, shaking his head in admiration while Aayla rolled her eyes at her friend's fascination with robots.

However Tholme brought his and Aayla's attention back to himself quickly. "Even if I can understand you, you can't understand me, which is a problem." He looked over at Aayla. "Does he understand Ryl any better than he speaks Galactic Standard?"

"No Master Tholme," young Twi'lek said. "Harry's been learning Standard from me and in return, he's been teaching me how to learn ma'gic. I've learned a lot, watch!" She turned to Harry. "Pebble?"

Harry nodded understanding the word and what she wanted. He gestured with one hand and a small pebble appeared from nowhere in his palm, which gained an audible gasp from Quinlan. Tholme had better control than his young padawan, so merely looked on, putting another mark in his mental tally of the mystery that was Harry Potter.

Aayla quickly took the pebble, holding it in her palm concentrating, staring at the pebble intently. After a moment the pebble began to levitate up off the palm of her hand.

"Very good," Tholme said with smile now on his face. Whatever else, it was very obvious that both youngsters were incredibly gifted. "How long have you two known each other?" He asked, fishing for more information with the ease of long practice.

"Not long," Aayla replied, while maintaining her concentration on the pebble, an excellent sign of her ability to multitask. "About five days or so, maybe?"

"I see. That is impressive progress then," he said giving the girl a little positive reinforcement, watching her flush slightly. _So she too had a hard life, or at least faced hardships, to be expected from a slave on Ryloth really, even one as young as she._

 _And then we come back to the Force ghost,_ he thought to himself, looking up at Lily as she hovered through the central table. Both of the children's eyes were on her now as she began to move her hands in the air describing something that she wanted them to try. He watched on as the pebble became two, and both began to hover in the air, passed from one to the other under Lily's instruction.

It was a good control exercise, though it didn't seem to be doing his padawan any good to watch another pebble appear out of thin air like that. This time Tholme had been ready however, his Force senses stretched out beyond what he had been using to touch Harry's thoughts. He had felt the brief tingle of the Force as something was created from nothing. _That is no parlor trick, but a_ _ **real**_ _Force power. I wonder how difficult it could be to learn? And why such a thing has been lost to us Jedi. If a pebble can be so summoned into being, can other things? And what would be the energy requirement of such an act?_

With that in mind Tholme moved over to a small drawer set in the side of the wall, pulling out two ampules and a small device. "I almost forgot, you two might need vaccinations and other things." Tholme said, keeping his voice deliberately calm. "A simple blood test can tell us how healthy you are and what vaccinations you might need later, which would let us speed up the process."

He then stopped, looking at Harry before gesturing to the reader in Aayla's hands. "Tell me Aayla, is there a picture of a doctor in there?"

Aayla nodded, and scrolled through the pad to the appropriate picture. Harry looked at it and nodded agreeably, holding out his arm.

Lily however spoke up quickly. "I can't say what kind of technology these wizards have access to Harry, but there are a lot of rituals, very few of them good for you, which your blood could be used in. The moment he's done checking it, you have to destroy the sample."

Harry nodded up at her then watched as Tholme took a small blood sample from Aayla, running it into his system to see how she scored on the Midi-Chlorian scale, the scale used to measure how much of the Force the individual could handle channeling. Tholme was unsurprised to see that Aayla scored quite highly, well above the minimum a child her age needed to score to be inducted into the Order. _Good, that will stop many of those who would be unwilling to accept a child her age into the Order, though given his older age Harry will have even more issues there._

That had been a movement within the Order which had started around two hundred years or so ago, that only young toddlers and babes should be brought into the Order, the better to teach them the proper Jedi way of life before they could be contaminated by outside viewpoints. Tholme himself was not a proponent of it, but he knew that several masters in the councils of Reassignment and First Knowledge, even the High Council, were.

Those thoughts left Tholme's mind as he ran Harry's blood through the scanner and for a moment even Tholme's self-control took a hit. First it had taken longer than it should have for some reason, something that Tholme hadn't ever seen before, and then when the count finally came up on the scanner, it was five times higher than any on record, even Master Yoda's latest count!

 _Could that be it then?_ He thought, somewhat sadly. _He can do what he can with the Force because he has the power to? But then why don't I feel a larger splash in the Force? When he conjures up those pebbles I only felt a brief, contained jolt of Force power, nothing more. It feels like as much Force power as would be used to push a block the size of my hand perhaps, nothing more._

His hands had, without any order form his brain, removed the blood sample from the handheld machine as he was thinking and a second later Tholme felt another, somewhat stronger pulse of Force and a sudden absence in his hand. Looking up he caught the moment the small ampule of blood he'd held in his hand disappeared, popping out of existence.

Quinlan blinked, then looked at Harry, forgetting for a moment the boy might not understand him. "Why in the world did you do that?"

Not turning to look at the younger Jedi, Harry looked at the ampule containing Aayla's blood sample, and a second later it disappeared too as he squeezed her hand. Aayla didn't understand why he had one that either, only that she had somehow felt something like worry, worry for her, before he did it. So she simply squeezed back, smiling at him. Then Harry looked at Tholme, who nodded his head. "Nevermind Quinlan, young Harry is not as trusting as Aayla is towards us, if he needs to get rid of his blood sample for some reason it doesn't matter."

"But what possible reason…"

"None that I know of for certain, but evidently either Harry, or Ms. Lily more likely, know of something." Tholme was privy to a few secrets of the Order, some of which hinted at Sith practices with blood, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility. More importantly Lily's body language, which came through quite clearly despite being a ghost, aided somewhat by what she was wearing, had relaxed the moment it became clear he wasn't going to make an issue of it.

Noticing Tholme's eyes on her, Lily nodded her head slightly. "Thank you." Tholme blinked, as the words had been in Galactic standard. Noticing his surprise, Lily shrugged. "I learn too," she said, gesturing at Aayla and her picture book.

That made sense, and would no doubt help in the long term in some ways. But in others, weaning Harry off his attachment to his mother would be bad enough without Lily actively fighting against it. Still for now it was time to turn his attention to other things. "Quinlan, remain here with the youngsters. If they are hungry, get them something from the kitchen. I will finish our investigation here quickly thanks to the evidence you uncovered, and we shall leave as quickly as possible."

"I will watch them Master. But do you not think we should call Coruscant now? Surely Harry's skills need to be shared with the High Council as fast as possible."

"I will call them eventually yes, but certainly not here on Ryloth. It might have a Hypercom transmitter, but do you really think that the local corruption does not spread to the Republic officials in charge of the transmitter?"

Quinlan winced then nodded in agreement.

Tholme looked at the two children, who had gone back to their game and they turned to look at them. Tholme patted his chest and gestured towards the entrance way to his ship. He then looked at Aayla. "I am going to go and see what I can about why Quinlan and I were here originally, do you think you'll be able to make Harry understand?"

"I'll try to get him to understand, though I'm not certain how to describe 'investigation'." Aayla replied, having heard the two talk and she stroked one of her lekku staring at Harry thoughtfully then back at Master Tholme. "Master Tholme, can I ask a question before you go?"

"Of course, child."

"Well actually I have two of them. The first is, I had heard stories from a few of the other slaves about Jedi," very mixed stories it must be said, though she wasn't going to say that aloud. Though young, Aayla understood no one wanted to hear the kinds of bad things people spoke of when they weren't around. "But I've never heard about the Jedi being able to just make things like Harry can."

"That would be because child, we cannot." Tholme said, seeing no reason not to tell her the truth. "We might be able to learn from your young friend how to however, has he been able to teach you anything of that sort?"

"No, though I think we might start on that kind of thing soon, at least I hope so. I'd love to be able to create my own bed like he did!" Aayla said excitedly.

"Excellent, then perhaps I will be able to become a student once more," Tholme said with a faint smile on his face. Aayla giggled at that as he had expected and went on to her next question quickly. "If you were not here for me and Harry, why were you here?"

"We were investigating a smuggling ring which had begun to smuggle endangered species for profit." Tholme said again honestly.

Aayla frowned, looking over at Quinlan and Tholme smiled slightly. "Do not worry child, my padawan feels what you feel growing between you. It is called the padawan bond, and it is a sign from the Force that when you have passed your initiate years with the Order he may take you as padawan. So long as he has finished his own apprenticeship?" Tholme said, cocking one eyebrow at his padawan.

Quinlan bowed acknowledging his point, and Tholme nodded. _Motivation of a sort._ With that Tholme left quickly.

Aayla nodded, leaning against Harry lightly as she looked at Quinlan. "Can you tell us anything about the training?" Then she frowned slightly, looking over her shoulder at Harry. "Or maybe we should wait until Harry learns more Galactic Standard."

"I think that would be a better idea," Quinlan said with a nod. "He might feel left out." He looked at Harry questioningly, having watched the boy's eyes track whoever was speaking. Those emerald eyes of his lit up slightly when he recognized certain words, and he obviously recognized the simpler ones, 'the', 'and', 'so', though how Aayla had taught him those was probably a story in and of itself. "So," he said, standing up, "are either of you hungry?"

The task of wrapping up the endangered species smuggling ring didn't take Tholme very long, though what to do with the criminals took some doing here on Ryloth, with all the connections Pol'Secura had here. By the end of his investigation the Secura clan lost quite a bit of face, its leader was in custody and being sent off planet for Republic justice. The Hutt unfortunately had already left the planet, thus escaping Tholme.

Thankfully there was a Republic trade ship from Chandrilla here whose captain had been happy to do the Jedi a favor on his return trip from selling a shipment of food to the food-strapped Twi'leks. If he hadn't, Tholme would've been in a difficult position. He definitely wouldn't have wanted to bring the prisoner along, not just because he was related to Aayla, but because dropping him off would have slowed Tholme's next move.

About three hours later everything was finished and he returned to the ship. When he entered, he found his padawan tied up to one of the sofas, with Aayla and Harry sitting on the other with what looked like a very good meal of some kind or other between them. He recognized what looked like a bird of some sort, and some vegetables.

The interesting thing was that food didn't match anything he knew the ship contained in its small spartan kitchen. The Force Ghost, Lily, was laughing at something, the sound reverberating in his bones through the Force, and he actually smiled slightly at the feeling of it.

"So my young padawan," he said, gesturing with one hand. The small ball stuffed into his padawan's mouth shot out, hovering in the air slightly before falling. "How exactly did this occur?"

"Well master…"

 **Flashback:**

Harry sniffed, his nose wrinkling as the smell of whatever it was Quinlan was trying to make wafted out of the small kitchen. "That's what he's going to feed us, yuck! It smells worse than that animal I had to kill on the cold side of Ryloth!"

Aayla didn't understand most of that, but her own nose was wrinkling at the smell too. Whatever his skills as a Jedi, it didn't look as if the older boy knew anything about cooking. Then she smiled, pointing at Harry. "Can you do something Harry?"

Having understood what she meant if not the words Harry nodded his head determinedly and got up from the sofa, entering the kitchen. Quinlan turned to him, shaking his head. "Just wait a bit Harry, it's almost done."

"You food bad!" Harry said, shaking his head as he tried to communicate in Galactic Standard, before switching to English, hoping that Quinlan knew the same magic trick that Tholme had used earlier. "Sorry mate, but whatever you're trying to make smells as bad as my uncle's socks. Now get out of the way."

Quinlan tried to bar him from pressing forward, using his own body to block the younger boy's progress, but Harry gestured, and the older youth found himself floating in the air. Quinlan used his own Force power to break the hold, finding it strangely difficult, and then tried again to get in Harry's way without hurting him.

Scowling Harry conjured up ropes to bind him, hurling them at Quinlan who began to dodge and duck about, retreating from the kitchen as Aayla watched the action from the sidelines, laughing and cheering them both on. "I'm not going to let you poison us Quinlan, just let me at the ingredients already!"

Quinlan landed from the jump that had taken him out of the small kitchen grabbing at one of the ropes still trying to encircle him then blinked as Aayla, still giggling, charged forward, taking one of his feet out from under him with a low tackle to the back of his leg, knocking him off balance. Before he could right himself, Quinlan found his arms bound to his body by two of the ropes, and Aayla got out of his way as he completed his fall.

She helped him up onto one of the sofa, and he watched as Harry worked at the kitchen top for a moment. A second later Quinlan felt a brief murmuring in the Force. When Harry turned, he held a large plate of something that looked admittedly far more edible than Quinlan's attempt had been as he carried it over to sit beside Aayla.

 **End Flashback**

"I tried to stop him master, but by the time I realized I should take him seriously he was already in control of the kitchen. Then he just changed the food, I mean it's still the same ingredients I think, but Master, what is he!? Some of the things he can do with the Force it's beyond anything I've ever imagined!" Quinlan asked, shaking his head. Looking back, the fight, if it could be called that, was more humiliating than painful, but the Force abilities that Harry commanded were another story.

"Calm yourself padawan, you need to be able to deal with sudden surprises far better than you seem to be able to at the moment. Center yourself in the Force."

The boy did so, it opening his eyes after a moment and nodding, visibly calmer than he had been. "Good. As to your question I have no idea what he is, except perhaps an opportunity for new knowledge." _Or perhaps a test of the Order as a whole._ Contemplating how the High Council would react to Harry's abilities made Tholme uneasy. The slow occlusion of the future and present that had begun a few years ago had made the Council more and more reactionary. "Tell me, when you confronted him did you feel any anger in the Force?"

"No master, just incomprehension and possibly some disgust."

Tholme nodded, relieved at that. "Yes, the language barrier is a difficult one, and your cooking my padawan leaves much to be desired. We can understand him if you reach out with the… Force…" he trailed off looking at Quinlan's guilty expression. "You didn't try, did you?"

"You know that I'm not good at that master, I'm getting better, but…"

Tholme sighed, shaking his head. "You'll meditate for five hours tomorrow morning on your failure," he said simply, waving his hand. "While doing a hand stand. Ignorance can be an excuse padawan, a lack of effort or thought is not."

"Yes master," Quinlan said, bowing his head in submission.

Moving over to Harry Tholme held up a hand. "May I have your reader Aayla?"

Aayla handed the datapad over, and Tholme flipped through it for a time, before pointing to pictures of nutritional items, then at the food cocking his head. Harry nodded replying in his own language knowing Tholme could follow that. The younger man hadn't, but Harry figured it must've been a tough spell to learn or something. "Yes, it contains the ingredients I found in the kitchen, I just changed what they look and taste like, in a good way not like what Quinlan was doing."

"Now Harry." Lily said, smiling down at him. "Just because Quinlan can't cook is no reason to rub his nose in it." Her eyes watched Tholme's face as she spoke, and noticed his eyes didn't leave Harry's face. _Ah, so he can't follow what I say then. So it's not am actual translation spell but a mental one as I thought and with no actual physical mind such a spell won't work on me. Definitely going to teach Harry Occlumency. Tholme seems to have good intentions, but who's to say that the next person around with that skill will?_

"In that case, we are done here Quinlan," Tholme said, getting to his feet. "Finish eating, then join us in the cockpit if you wish to see us take off Aayla, Harry."

Aayla nodded, then made a series of pantomimes to get Harry to understand that they would be taking off soon. Harry's eyes gleamed with excitement, and he shoved the last of the food in his mouth before jumping to his feet quickly.

Lily also looked interested, something Tholme noticed, and he frowned. _So, very primitive then, it might not just be Harry calling the Force magic and her not correcting him as I had hoped. But how long has she been dead, she doesn't look older than her early twenties, to have a son as old as Harry seems to be…_ Unseen by anyone Tholme shook his head. _The questions keep piling up, without any answers. I have to get Harry to open up more, but the language barrier makes that difficult on his end._

The two Jedi led the way through the short passageway to the cockpit of the Consular class ship, where they gestured the two youngling to the observation area before sitting down themselves. A few moments of checks later the ship's generator went from standby to full power, and a deep thrumming sound filled the air. The ship's repulsors activated, lifting it off its landing treads. At Tholme's direction the main engines came online, pushing the ship forward.

Orienting itself towards the end of the port, the ship began to move forward, getting into a line behind two other ships preparing to leave the protected underground cavern. Moments later, the massive doors which protected the entrance of the landing bay from the solar storms that racked the sun side of Ryloth opened, and the three ships left one after another.

The gasps from the children amused Tholme, though he didn't let it show, instead concentrating on his own instruments. Quinlan however smiled at their youthful enthusiasm, watching as they ran towards the front viewport, pressing their faces against it as they stared out. "Amazing, we're actually heading up into the atmosphere! We're going into space!"

"That was sort of assumed Harry," Lily said hovering behind them and watching with no less interest despite her words. "Remember, we are dealing with at least… how many aliens races did we see?"

"Seven or eight I think," Harry said with a nod. "Good point."

Lily laughed, reaching forward and ruffling his hair, while also stroking Aayla's head with her other hand. She grimaced slightly at the exertion of doing so but didn't let either of them see it as they turned to look up at her. "I'm sorry I tried to rain on your parade Harry, this is of start of a magnificent adventure and I shouldn't have. Looking forward to it?" She asked gesturing upwards as the ship continued to climb.

Harry grinned at her with a nod and turned to Aayla and asked in his pidgin Galactic, "space good, yes? Fun!"

Aayla grinned and nodded back, and Tholme allowed a faint smile to appear on his face, having looked up as he felt the Force Ghost, Lily, do something, watching her interact with the youths once again. They would learn that being a Jedi also meant a lot of effort and learning, but their enthusiasm was nice at least.

Moments later they exited the atmosphere, and began to orient themselves out system where they would jump. They would have to get away from the planet's gravity well of course, and then orient themselves on their destination or at least the next jump to said destination before jumping to hyperspace. Once in hyperspace, a person could not change his ships direction after all, and things like asteroids, planets, suns and black holes all interfered with the ability to jump straight from one system to another.

"Where to Master?" Quinlan asked, his fingers hovering over the after nation board.

"Give me a moment padawan," Tholme replied, working on his own systems for a moment. He pulled up a galactic map for a moment, thinking hard. For some reason bot h the Force and his own instincts were telling him not to head directly back to Coruscant. And frankly they didn't have to tell them that very hard, because a moment's thought also told him that Harry should be kept a secret for now even from the majority of the Order.

There would be those who would look at Harry askance simply because of his relation to Lily, and his strange powers. They were Force based, Tholme could feel the changes occurring in the Force, but that would not be enough for many. And there was his age to consider of course. _But I do need to tell Master Yoda at the very least._

However, there was a training training vessel operating in the Expansion Region slowly making its way core-ward. According to what he knew of its flight plan it would be in Lanopa in about a week. That was within three jumps from here, one jump on the Corellian Run to Denon, then another on the Hydian Way from there and another from the edge of the Way, near Harrin, to Lanopa. _Yes, the training training vessel will do very well to stash Harry away for now._ "Set a course for Denon Quinlan, from there we will make for Harrin and finally Lanopa." He said aloud.

"Why there Master, we could just take the Corellian Run almost all the way home, surely..."

"Coruscant is too open, someone always sees anything going on there. Besides wanting to keep his abilities under wraps until we can discover more about them I wish young Harry to be able to communicate with us as well as we can understand him before introducing him to the High Council. You know how reactionary some of them can be."

"Yes Master that makes sense, I'm sorry I questioned you."

"Questions are fine my young friend, doubt in yourself is not. Trust the Force to guide you Quinlan, and yourself to find the right path within it." Tholme replied firmly.

"Yes master," he said even more humbly.

The ship jumped into hyperspace about an hour later, during which Harry and Aayla talked to one another in Harry's pidgin Galactic Standard, as Aayla taught him the word for stars, ship, and several other items in the cockpit. Whether or not they young boy would retain them all Tholme didn't know, but at least he was learning.

Aayla began to yawn after a few moments spent in hyperspace, and Tholme nodded. There were after all young, and it had been a long day. Harry didn't look to be that exhausted, but Aayla was. "Bed for you both now, come." He said, getting to his feet and gesturing to them both.

Harry nodded understanding after Aayla pointed to another picture and put an arm over Aayla's shoulders, helping her along. The girl put her head against his shoulder almost seeming to fall asleep on her feet. It had been a really long day.

Quinlan followed for a moment, pulling out a pair of blankets. When he came into the sitting room however he found both children already curled up on the sofa with another blanket Harry had conjured into being, pulling it up over them both.

After the two of them left head back up to the cockpit in the case of Tholme, and bed himself in case of Quinlan, Lily, who had followed the children looked down at Harry. "So what do you think Harry?" she asked.

"They seem nice," Harry said with a shrug. "But I think at least Quinlan seemed surprised by a lot of the magic I used. They call it the Force here for some reason though, I got that much from what they were saying. I'm not certain why they would call it that, though I noticed they didn't need a wand like you said wizards normally did."

"True, though perhaps transfiguration and conjuration aren't well known here, they might concentrate on charms." Lily mused. "I think we really need to step up our language lessons though."

"Yes, but I'd like to keep up Aayla's training too, at least until we get wherever were going. They seemed surprised by her ability, but not astonished. I guess maybe you went a little too fast for their own version of training, but that shouldn't matter in the long run."

"Quinlan at least seemed able to answer Aayla's questions, she looked really happy."

"Are you jealous?" Lily asked lightly, though she was watching her son intently just in case. She didn't think he was interested in girls yet, but it would be something to watch out for.

"Why would I be?" Harry said with a shrug.

"Be careful though Harry," Lily cautioned, shaking her head as Harry didn't respond to her tease. "That mind trick of theirs which allows Tholme to understand you is impressive, especially without any kind of focus or external sign that he was using it. And just because they don't know Conjuration or Transfiguration doesn't mean they won't know anything else. They're certainly both more fit and warlike with that energy sword thing of theirs than the wizards on Earth. Be careful."

"You think they're dangerous to me?" Harry asked, frowning. "But you were all for going with them."

"I was and I am. I don't think they're threat to us Harry, not these two, despite all the questions I have for them. But who's to say that all of these Jedi will be so nice? There are always dark wizards Harry, that's just a sad fact of life."

"I'll remember that mum," he said, then nuzzled back into the sofa. He pulled the blanket back up to cover Aayla, who had kicked it off a moment ago and tucked his head into a space between the sofa and one of her lekkus slowly closing his eyes. "Goodnight mum, love you."

"I love you too Harry." Above him, Lily smiled and prepared to wait out the night, watching over her son.

 **OOOOOOO**

Hyperspace trade routes were lanes of space with no gravitational anomalies in them which allowed ships to run at the highest speed they could handle, however it didn't change the actual distance. Ryloth was deep in the Outer Rim and Denon was on the fringe of the Colonies Region in the Inner Rim. So even using the Corellian Run it would take the ship four days to get from Ryloth to Denon.

The next day Tholme woke the children up and began to lay out what would be their daily regimen for the rest of the trip. First was an hour of simple exercises, followed by breakfast, then several hours of learning with Glimmer to speak Galactic Standard. After another hour of exercise, Tholme began to tell Harry, Aayla and Lily about the Jedi Order. This was very difficult given how little Galactic Standard Harry and Lily understood, but he persevered with Glimmer's help, and the children's dataslate.

Having taken the time the evening before to find imagery to match his words was very important and helped Tholme immensely. Still, he did feel a little silly using it to help an eleven year old boy understand. "We are the Jedi Order. We use the Force to guide us in our place as defenders, law givers, counselors, Healers, investigators, and diplomats. We have been around for more than 20,000 years in various forms, aiding the Galactic Republic as we may."

"Why?" Harry asked, grateful that Master Tholme at least understood him since the older man looked a little silly using the dataslate. _It was fine between me and Aayla, but watching an adult use it is just weird, especially with the little cartoon pictures_. "I understand we can use magic, and I am fine with the idea of using it to help people, but is that all the Order does, and why does the Force make us better at those jobs than anyone else?"

Tholme smiled, misconstruing some of the feelings he felt from the boy. "Inquisitiveness is good in one seeking knowledge Harry, never feel silly asking questions. However, while I understand the question, I am uncertain if you will understand the answer. The Force, and that is the proper name, not magic, helps us make decisions, see the truth in things, see connections where others would not. Moreover, our neutrality is respected by all parties."

"Hmm… I understood about five words out of that. Why the Force, and not magic?"

"Because magic implies a certain level of mysticism and a lack of understanding of the process of what you are doing." As he said that though, Tholme had to wonder. What Harry did was Force related, but what he had already shown was well beyond anything Tholme had studied. "Is that what it was called on your planet?"

"Yes. Where I come from, magic users apparently live apart from other people to avoid abusing their powers or being abused. I didn't, because… well, reasons I suppose." Harry said, trailing off as he pondered what to tell Master Tholme about his background.

He liked what he had seen of Tholme, but that wasn't really enough to get Harry to trust him quickly. "Anyway, yeah, it was, and my mum told me about some of the jobs and things that magic users could take among their own people. Researchers, spell crafters, that kind of thing."

"We do have the equivalent of those, though they are very specialized tasks." Tholme replied circuitously, not really telling Harry anything. The Jedi Order actually didn't have anyone like what he imagined spell crafters would be, but he was uncertain how much of that meaning was lost in the translation of 'magic' to the Force. "However we don't use specific spells as you seem to be speaking of, nor do you I've noticed."

"Apparently I'm kind of unusual there," Harry replied, looking up at Lily who laughed quietly, shaking her head at him. "I can get magic to do things just through my willpower that my mum says older wizards would have to use spells and gestures to do. I still use gestures sometimes but…" He suddenly smiled, looking at Master Tholme. "I saw you use some of the Force as you put it yesterday a time or two, but why don't you show me something you think I can't do?"

"Something you can't do hmmm?" Tholme mused, smirking somewhat. "Well, I suppose I could do that. But judging by how you handled my padawan, that is my apprentice, you might have gotten the wrong idea of what he can do. Quinlan, why don't you come down here?"

Quinlan quickly joined them, smiling at Aayla while giving a bit of the evil eye at Harry, not having forgiven him for the humiliation yesterday, though he understood half of it was his own fault. At Tholme's direction, the room changed configuration, the sofa disappearing into the floor along with the center table, the floor evening out in the center. After that Tholme put on a helmet that blocked out his eyes and ears, activating his lightsaber.

Tholme smiled, having wanted to maneuver this conversation into this move the evening before. He pulled out a few more images on the dataslate as he continued, gesturing with one hand. At his gesture Harry watched several small silver balls the size of Tholme's hand appeared out of cupboard, moving one after another into his hand, where he pushed a few buttons. "A Jedi can use the Force, to feel the universe around him, far beyond the range of his mere physical senses. We can even anticipate things, as Quinlan did yesterday against the Wampa. Watch."

As Harry and Aayla stood against the far wall and Lily hovered in the air behind them, Quinlan moved into the center of the room. As soon as he did, the little balls began to fly all around him. Then they began to spit out sparks of energy at Quinlan. Moving with a grace and speed that Lily had never seen before in anyone Quinlan deflected several of them, blocked others and dodged a few without seeing where they were coming from.

"Interesting," she mused. "I was right when I thought they were better at combat than wizards Harry, at least close range. I have to wonder how he would deal with area effect spells. Ask Tholme if you can try something to add to the training then use _Stupefy_ on him."

Harry nodded and relayed the message to Tholme, who nodded agreeably, not warning Quinlan. Harry turned then concentrated, gesturing with one hand. A red circle flew from his fingertips towards Quinlan.

However, Quinlan turned from blocking the low power energy bolts from the training balls to face in Harry's direction just as the spell left his fingers. His lightsaber flashed, intersecting the attack. In a welter of reddish sparks which rapidly disappeared in the air the spell dissipated.

Narrowing his eyes, Harry conjured up a few things, spoons, balls, a few rocks and other things. Then he started to fire off Stupefys as he moved around the room. He didn't apparate, not yet, figuring the Jedi would be able to sense it. Nor did he use any transfiguration, not wanting to use it on any part of the ship lest he damage it. He did however cover himself with a Notice-me-Not and the other spells he used to move around unseen on Ryloth.

That seemed to work but only on Harry himself, just trying to overwhelm Quinlan didn't work at all since Quinlan was able to feel the attacks moving from Harry toward him. The young Jedi turned all around, following Harry, his footsteps sure, his lightsaber work certain as he deflected, dodged or destroyed anything coming his way. After only a few moments, Tholme called, "Stop."

Harry did so, his eyes wide, though Lily's were not. Harry didn't know it, but his Stupefy wasn't really an area effect spell, there were a lot of others he would be able to use once Lily began to guide him towards figuring them out. "Not bad, but I still think at range a wizard would be able to beat a Jedi. Though keeping the range open would definitely be a trial."

"Maybe mum, I've never seen wizards fight. But even so, think about what I could do if I could feel the environment around me like that," Harry replied, to which Lily could only nod. On the other hand, she made a point to keep a more open mind about these Jedi, just in case.

"That is what the Force can do young Harry, if you learn how to reach out with your senses, with your mind, rather than simply manipulate its energy to your own designs." Tholme said softly, making to put a hand on the boy's shoulder, only pulling back after a second. What he had already learned of Harry told Tholme he wasn't used to adults, particularly adult men, treating him kindly and might react badly to physical contact.

Tholme idly wondered if he should ask Master T'ra Saa to join them, but though the Neti master was the Sector Jedi for this area of space, she was busy at present on Siskeen aiding the locals after a series of natural disasters had wracked one of the planet's continents.

 _So that leaves me alone for now, without a female element to counter Lily's. I just hope she is willing to work with us._ "The Force can guide us in battle, and in life. Would you like to learn?"

From there, Tholme continued to teach the two about the Jedi Order, and the Force during that period of the day. Harry kept on interrupting at times, which was to be expected, though Tholme was somewhat discouraged to realize both he and Lily were questioning a lot about the meditation aspect, about the need to clear the mind in order to reach out to the Force, and the need to abstain from emotions while doing it. While at this stage in their education that second part wasn't important, the basis for it had to be understood, and they didn't seem to be understanding the point of it.

During the evenings they had another exercise under Quinlan, then another session under Glimmer during dinner, which Harry took over by common consent. Astonishingly, Harry was in very good shape. Despite his scrawny frame he had quite a bit of wiry strength to him, and fantastic endurance. Tholme however was more interested in watching him 'transfigure', the art of changing one thing into another, the items in the kitchen. The definition of the word Tholme translated what Harry was doing smacked a little too much of Sith alchemy to the Jedi master, which along with Harry and Lily's concerns about Harry's blood was enough to set Tholme's hackles on edge until he watched it with his Forces senses on high.

However Sith alchemy was just that, a somewhat scientific process accentuated through use of the Dark Side of the Force. This was simply an extension of Force power as far as Tholme could tell. Harry seemed to be telling the universe, telling the Force in that small area, that no, what you believe you are is wrong, this is what you really are, and then imposing that image upon reality.

It was astonishing, but the more Tholme looked at it and watched Harry do it, the more he wondered if perhaps Jedi could do the same thing. A _fter all, do we not already do that in a way with Force telekinesis?_ Moreover there was no feeling of hate or anger here, which was another plus. It all served to firm up Tholme's belief that the Order needed Harry within its ranks. _Perhaps he is the Chosen One that I have heard a few masters mention a time or two._

Tholme began to instruct the children in the first few steps of Jedi Mediation the third day out, when he felt that Harry was just up to understanding what he was talking about. But yet again he had to use visual aids to cross the language divide.

Lily watched his attempt at communication then nodded her head. "I think they are trying to teach you the start of Occlumency Harry, the art of protecting your mind. The rest, I've heard of Eastern wizards who bind up magic with mysticism. Most English wizards thought it was all bunk, but it might be part of the reason why they don't need a focus here, they never got into the habit. And if you follow that concept to the logical conclusion, it might be the key to how they can 'feel' the universe around them."

The other half of that equation was that the magic field, or the Force she supposed, of this universe was much stronger than back home and thus easier to feel but possibly harder to direct to a single effect. Even here in the ship it felt like being back at Hogwarts, only more intense, heavier almost. And the difficulty of imposing their will upon it might be why Tholme and Quinlan seemed so interested in Harry's transfiguration skills.

What interested both Lily and Harry were the conversations Tholme initiated with them during the evening, including Lily as she too learned the local dialect. Sometimes Aayla joined them, sometimes Quinlan up in the cockpit. Through these discussions, Tholme, Lily and Harry sounded one another out. Aayla would follow Harry's lead that was obvious, but Aayla trusted the Jedi, whereas Harry was much warier of them.

Harry was willing to trust Tholme and Quinlan as individuals, that was obvious. But he had never heard of Jedi except possibly in passing. It was both irritating and refreshing to speak to someone who had never heard of the Jedi before.

 _If only I was not getting the impression that Lily was not impressed with us either,_ he mused to himself more than once. Lily also told them both about the society of magicals, or Force users as Tholme thought of them, which interested both him and Harry.

Some of the things she mentioned, the idea of massive areas covered by 'spells' which kept non-Force users from finding them, was impressive, and beyond anything the Jedi did today. Though Jedi and Sith had both done similar things to hide from their enemies in the various wars before the Ruusan Reformation. The Sith had been particularly good at that trick.

Some of the other things however, the idea of 'runes' in particular, were fascinating. Jedi and Sith could imbue the Force into objects, even specific, simple concepts, such as 'stay away', 'don't notice me' or fear, which the items would then radiate out to fool the weak-minded. But the Jedi had lost even the ability to do that long before the Reformation, and even those skills were well below what Lily described runes were capable of.

Eventually however, his curiosity about how Harry didn't know about these things overcame Tholme. Their third evening out he decided to broach that subject. "Harry, how is it that you did not live with Lily, or your… father? How did your mother die that left her as a ghost?"

Harry flinched slightly and leaned back, looking at Tholme then up to Lily. Lily shrugged her shoulders sadly, looking back down at him. "It's up to you Harry, if you're up to speaking about it, it doesn't hurt my feelings to talk about it in general, just the particulars." She smiled wanly, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek with her ethereal lips. The memory of her husband's death still haunted Lily somewhat, and it always would, but talking about their deaths in general at least she could handle.

"Alright." Harry nodded smiling up at Lily before looking over at Tholme, his face becoming serious quickly. It was time to trust Tholme a little more, and this was the first step to that. "My mother and my father and I we were attacked by a Dark Lord a few months after I was born."

Harry jerked back as Tholme suddenly leaned forward, his eyes which had been somewhere between sympathetic and inquisitive hardening noticeably. "Dark Lord? What do you mean Dark Lord?"

"His name was Voldemort apparently. He wanted to rule the world, and used terror attacks and Dark magic, Dark spells to get it. My mother hasn't told me much about the actual fighting," Harry said, leaning back further, a little worried by Tholme's intensity.

Tholme reasserted control of himself quickly, shaking his head. "I apologize for startling you young one, but the Dark Side is no joke to us. Dark… spells?"

"Repeat after me Harry," Lily said, touching his shoulder with one hand as she looked at Tholme keenly. He was honestly worried about Dark spells, which was interesting, telling and frankly a good sign in some ways.

"Some spells are powered by negative feelings. For example one of them is a torture curse, you have to want to hurt someone with every fiber of your being to power it. I will not help my son learn anything of that nature because every time a person uses spells like that, they impact their soul, and it is harder to come back. I know of people who use some of the Dark spells for good, but even they are changed by it, nor will they touch the worst spells out there."

Tholme nodded thoughtfully, but Harry looked up at his mother questioningly. "I think I ran into something like that, anger and frustration helped me power a spell once, but I didn't like that it made the spell **and** **me** feel so out of control."

"Anger, fear, and aggression are the basic tenants of the Dark side." Tholme said softly, with his Force telepathy still allowing him to understand Harry's words, hoping that Harry understood enough of what he was saying to get the gist of it. "They are easier to use because they are powerful emotions Harry, but they corrupt the individual the longer you use them."

Frowning for a moment he pulled out Aayla's datapad flipping through it before he found a few pictures which he could use to describe the emotions he was talking about. Then he kept going, finding an individual who was obviously sick with something. "Fear, anger, aggression, the Dark, it makes you like this, like a sickness."

"He's trying to say the Dark is like a sickness to the soul, and that those emotions he mentioned feed into it. I'm not certain if I agree with that, but unbridled anger and certainly hate can indeed do very bad things to a person's soul Harry, especially when they use it to power their magic." Lily said, smiling and nodded agreement, which seemed to satisfy Tholme's anxiety almost as much as Harry's immediate nod of understanding. Indeed for the first time a tension he seemed to have whenever he looked at Lily faded entirely away, though why it had been there in the first place was beyond Harry.

Harry nodded once more then smiled. "In that case I won't use them, I'll use the Light version. If anger and hate are bad, than using spells based on happiness or love would be good right?"

"Light version?" Lily asked smiling back at Harry as Tholme frowned slightly, both at the idea and Harry's continued use of the word 'spells'. "There are a few spells that call upon happy feelings. I know of a few protective shield spells that call upon the urge to defend, and another spell that requires you to think of your happiest memories. I suppose you could say they are the light side of things.

"Those spells sound interesting." Harry said with a nod. "You'll have to teach me about them."

"Normally those spells would be taught in your seventh year at Hogwarts, if that, but I suppose like so much else, that could have been based on a false assumption of the need for prior training." Lily replied, then nodded. "We'll try Harry."

"I followed your half of that conversation Harry, and I have to say it sounds fascinating to me as well," Tholme said mildly, smiling lightly at him, the small coiled knot of worry within him dissipating entirely now.

The boy had good instincts, and while there was pain and fear, fear of loss, and most definitely attachment in Harry, Tholme could not detect any anger or hate in him. Determination yes, but not anger, which was good, very good. What was odd, and not very good in the long term was the idea of using positive emotions in such a way. The Order taught that even positive emotions led to the Dark Side, hence the 'there is no emotion, there is only peace' aspect of the Oath of the Jedi.

 _Still, these two represent too much knowledge for me to turn them away just for that, especially since I know that a Jedi can feel love and not be in danger of falling. But it is yet another reason why I need to keep these two away from Coruscant and the whole of High Council for a while. But Yoda at least needs to know…_

A day later they came out in the Denon system. The single planet in the system buzzed with lights and movement, Denon was a major industrial hub, fueled by being the crossroads between two hyperspace lanes. The asteroids in the system were the sight of much of the industry, but the planet itself had grown into a cityscape like Coruscant, though it only consisted of a single level or at most two levels of buildings, while on Coruscant no one knew how many level existed between the present day buildings and the natural ground of the planet.

Tholme set Quinlan to telling the two children and Lily about the system, using the hologram connected to the ship's sensors to use it as a teaching tool as he ostensibly turned the ship in the direction of their next jump. Instead Tholme input another command into the ship's computer which powered up the ship's personal Hypercom relay, something even his own padawan had no knowledge the ship even had. It was one of only six such devices the Jedi Order had, able to send out a Hypercom signal without needing to piggyback on the nearest relay and they were a secret known to fewer than ten people. The energy of the ship's reactor noticeably dipped on the readout as the signal was sent out, and Tholme made a note to recharge it when he could.

The destination of his signal was a secret back door entrance to the Jedi Temple's own communication net, and it kicked him directly to the Grand Master's own room. He was one of only six living Jedi who had that code, and it was only used in emergencies. Tholme believed this was important enough however, the powers Harry had so casually shown so far, that Lily mentioned from her past, were world shattering, but only if the Order could harness them correctly. "Master Yoda, I apologize if I woke you."

The hologram appeared over the display of his seat and Yoda looked at him. "Asleep I was not. Old I am, need much sleep, the elderly do not. Many years, decades even, it has been since this line was used. Good reason for using it now, you have?"

"I do. I have discovered something very odd on Ryloth, so odd I do not even want to talk about it like this, only in person. We are heading to the training vessel _Explorer_. How soon can you get away to meet us there?"

Yoda actually blinked in shock, frowning, Force senses reaching out, though at this distance even Yoda would be unable to detect anything in particular. "A secret even from the rest of the Order, you wish to keep this?"

"Yes," master Tholme replied simply. "As I said I have found something highly unusual, and I am afraid there are elements within the Order which would not take a lot of that discovery very well for various reasons. And there are still more who would wish to see it buried entirely or disbelieve their own senses."

"To your desire to keep this a secret, more there is." Yoda said pointing his glimmer stick into his own hologram so much so that it disappeared in Tholme's. "Feel something through the Force do you?"

"Feel something through the Force we all did master," Tholme said obliquely, "I simply may have found the root cause of it. But yes, I feel that this needs to be kept secret."

Yoda's eyes widened slightly, understanding what Tholme was really saying, his reference to the massive Force splash the Jedi had all felt a little under two months ago. He nodded his head decisively. "Very well, but for many weeks, leave Coruscant, able to I will not be. Leave the secret there you will, return to Coruscant you will, speak in person then, hrhrhrm."

Tholme frowned. "Master I am uncertain that is the right move. I would prefer to remain with the _Explorer_ until you arrive."

Leaning back slightly Yoda could not keep a frown from his aged, wrinkled face. Tholme was a very active Jedi, not one who enjoyed sitting in the temple or inactivity of any sort. And as one of only six Jedi Shadows, he, and his padawan thanks to Vos' unique powers, needed to be in the field. There were few among the Order so at home in moving within the criminal element. That he would even think of taking himself out of the field showed yet again how important he felt this was. "Hrhrhrm, agreeable that is, try harder to get away I will. My interest, you have awakened young Tholme."

Tholme actually chuckled, shaking his head. "Oh master Yoda, you really don't know the half of it." After that the call ended, and Tholme turned the ship towards their next jump.

 **OOOOOOO**

 _Something is changing, some new factor has been added to the board._

On Coruscant there was a series of hidden rooms, buried deep, deeper than most thought it was possible to go, well below even the lowest so-called habitable level. Within these rooms was a training area, a laboratory, a meditation area, a massive communication array and unregistered Hypercom array, allowing the owners of this series of rooms to connect to the Hypercom network with no one the wiser, a nearly untraceable means of communication since it simply added it's own signals to that of the Coruscant array, which was on and in use at all times.

This, hidden at the heart of the Republic, on the same planet as the Jedi Temple, was the home of the Sith of Darth Bane. They had been here for nigh on nine-hundred years, hidden underneath the eyes of the Jedi, the miasma of Dark and Light Force of the billions of inhabitants on the planet keeping them hidden from any Jedi's senses. The shadows are always darkest right beneath the candle.

The man who had that thought was a tall, gaunt Muun, sitting on a throne made of steel, pipes and glass. His face was pale, his eyes dark gray, his robes so black they seemed to suck in what little light there was in his laboratory cum meditation room. His name was Darth Plagueis, and he was a Sith master, the only one at present following the ancient and wise Rule of Two. His apprentice, Darth Sidious, was not here at present, overseeing the ongoing training of his latest project, the creation of a Sith Assassin.

Plagueis saw the point of having such a weapon to be their tool in the universe, but was ambivalent about using someone like the Zabrak. Anything that could hint to the Jedi that the Sith were still around was to be avoided in his mind. Still, he might come in handy in the future, and Sidious had already used him on a few missions without the Zabrak leaving any hint of his presence behind.

But that was in no way connected to the thought that had roused Plagueis from his meditations. _At least I wasn't nearly knocked out like the last time._ The last time Plagueis had exited his meditation before his allotted time was over was because of a massive splash of Force power which had reverberated across the known universe, so powerful that practically every Jedi master, and Plagueis and his apprentice, had felt it.

But the splash had been of the light side of the Force, and while to the Jedi it had felt like a bright peeling note of music or joyful exclamation, it had wracked both Sith with such agony as they had never felt before. Plagueis had barely stayed conscious, and by the time he regained his senses the splash had dissipated, and he was unable to find the cause. Sidious had been knocked out entirely, as had the Zabrak, which cause him to nearly crash his brand new ship.

Worse than their ignorance was that the Force had shifted somehow, the Veil Plagueis was putting in place had been set back markedly, and there was far more Light mixed up in the Force than there had been, but the source of it was still beyond Plagueis' senses.

Returning to the here and now, Plagueis frowned, directing his thoughts out into the Force now rather than letting the eddies of the Unifying Force guide him. Yet he could not detect whatever it was that had roused him. It had hidden itself in the Force beyond his senses. _Perhaps if the Veil was fully in place I would be able to find it, but it is not, and I deal with what is, not with what-ifs._

 _Nonetheless, I detect a bit of Jedi deception here, the Jedi have discovered something._ With a gesture, he activated the transmission system, which was piggybacked into the Republic hyper array, the underlying physical array that carried all the Hypercom messages throughout the Galaxy. _The Jedi are so stupid not realize the Republic sees all their messages thanks to its control of the Hypercom Relay System._

This way Plagueis was able to find a copy of the message from an unknown array in Denon, but the signal itself was heavily encrypted well beyond anything the Sith had access to. _Odd, very unlike the Jedi, and definitely an indication that there is something going on. I will devote some of my own time to this, if it has anything not do with that massive shift in the Force we need to learn what it is._

 **OOOOOOO**

By the time they arrived at their real destination, Harry's lessons in Galactic Standard had brought him up to Aayla's level, and Aayla was practically as fluent in Standard as she was in Ryl. Both children had learned some forms of meditation, though Harry had not learned how to reach out to the Force for guidance just yet, and failed all the tests Tholme gave him in trying to discover things hidden behind doors his hand and so on. Still, such things sometimes came slower than others. Their meditations however had come along nicely, with Lily helping it along in a novel way, which Tholme was quite interested to see if it would take.

Tholme could also tell that some of the tenants of the Jedi he described to them, particularly abstaining from emotions, continued to bother Lily a **lot**. Their discussions along that score were not very pleasant, therefore, he decided not to push them just yet. It would be many years before Harry was going to be allowed to become a Jedi after all, they had time to convince him and his mother that the Order was in the right there, if they could. If they could not, perhaps another exception could be made.

Harry also didn't seem to understand why he had to abstain from creature comforts sometimes, but with his power of transfiguration Tholme didn't really see the point. He wasn't getting attached to the things he transfigured, and saw no worth in them. He just didn't see why he shouldn't have them if he could conjure them up.

The youngster also continued to learn from his mother, though Tholme was interested to note that Lily never told him or Aayla anything specific from what he could discern. Instead she merely guided them along gently, letting them reach their own conclusions. Aayla began to show signs of what could only be Force Jump because of this, and Harry's ability to multi-task grew in leaps and bounds, and he also began to create shields of pure Force power, though he couldn't hold them for very long under Quinlan's attacks. Nonetheless, the potential the boy had, both for himself and the Order, was massive.

"There is the training vessel Master," Quinlan said, pointing ahead of them through the viewing port and bringing his master out of his thoughts for a moment.

They'd been closing with the learning ship for several moments now, but it was within actual eyesight now. "Good Quinlan, please slave our ship to theirs, let their systems bring us in."

With that done, Tholme opened a communications with the training vessel. "Jedi training vessel _Explorer_ , this is Master Tholme, I have two younglings to be added to your clans, and myself and my padawan will remain with for a few weeks."

"This is Master Illaviel. This is highly irregular master Tholme, but Grand Master Yoda called ahead and told us you were coming. We are ready and waiting for you."

The Consular class ship docked with the other ship quickly, and Quinlan chivvied Aayla and Harry aboard. Both children looked around the new ship with interest, before concentrating on the welcoming party, two young knights, and a master. One of the knights was from a race Harry had never seen with rainbow colored feathers and the face of a bird, the other a human with pale white skin. The master was an ancient-looking Bothan female, a race Harry had seen only twice before on Ryloth. The two knights looked younger than Tholme by a decade or so, though Harry and Aayla would be pressed to say how they knew the bird woman's age.

"These are the two younglings, they are a little older than most we would take master Tholme." said the Bothan, who must be Master Illaviel, looking at both of them with appraising eyes. "Have you been instructing them?"

"Somewhat, but there are… extenuating circumstances. For one, we had to teach Harry Galactic standard, and for another…" he gestured to Lily who as always had followed Harry. "This is Lily."

The two knights gaped in shock for a moment, their self-control not up to the sight of a Force Ghost, but the ancient Bothan barely reacted, nodding her head. She had already felt the presence of the Force Ghost, though this redhead was far more corporeal than most. "She looks like a member of the Sunrider clan. So the Corellians have continued their heretical ways?"

"She is not from Corellia and as I said there are extenuating circumstances. However I would like to get Aayla and Harry situated with their fellows as soon as possible. Would that be alright?"

"Very well, but you will have to convince me that this ghost's being here would be helpful rather than hurtful to the youngling's instructions."

"This ghost has a name and has learned enough Standard to know when she's being talked about." Lily replied moving forward to stare into the old woman's eyes, hovering before her almost challengingly. "If you have questions about me and what impact I will have on my son's joining your Order then ask them, don't just assume you know the answers. Too many people assume they know right when they know so very little."

The woman scowled at Lily's tone, which was really a shot across the bows of the entire Order, but she nodded. "Very well, To'neen, Laitha, show these two their new quarters. Master Tholme and… guest, follow me."

After looking to his mother for permission Harry followed Aayla and the two knights. The knights ushered them through several corridors. They passed by open doorways which led into various rooms, several of which looked like classrooms to Harry's eyes. Another looked like a woodcrafter's room, but not quite. Another was a gym. Eventually they were broken up, with Aayla entering a room to one side of the hall and Harry the other.

Inside Harry found several other boys of different races, most of whom he had never seen before. There were no twi'leks here, but one of them was a tall rangy green skinned boy, who suddenly set up from his bed is Harry came in. He looked about Harry's age, while the other boys looked younger. "Why am I with the youngsters?" Harry asked looking over at the knight who had shown him in.

"Because you, like young Alecto here, are starting late. Normally Force users are found when we are born and brought into the Order as soon as possible. Sometimes we miss you as babies, but you still have to start at the same point."

"Not certain I agree with that, but I won't argue." Harry said with a shrug. He looked at one of the younglings, a youngest boy whose body resembled that of a centaur, as he came forward, moving almost skittishly, hopping in place, racing back and forth as Harry watched. He had short curly hair, and two small horns which looked like they were covered by velvet sticking out of his forehead. "You must find these bunks uncomfortable."

"Y-yes. The ship's making a bed for me, but I'm the first Chironian to enter the Order in thousands of years, so they don't quite know what to do with me." The boy's tone had started proud but ended uncertainly. "The knight who found me forgot to ask my parents what kind of beds they used, and I only just arrived here last night."

Harry grinned. "Let me help you then." He raised a hand toward the bunk the Chironian had been standing by. After a moment's hesitation Harry had the image in his head, and a brief surge of Force/magic later the bunk changed shape, becoming thinner in the body and with a large headrest, large enough for the boy's head and shoulder to rest on while the rest of his body could lay on the bed.

All of the younglings and the knight blinked as they watched though only a few were able to feel the change occur through the Force. The boy in question looked at it, then grinned back at Harry, not questioning his strange ability, simply taking it for granted as children sometimes did the amazing. "Could you make the top where my head rests softer?"

Harry nodded, and the top of the board was suddenly covered with a pillow. The boy moved over to it, resting his lower body on the bed and leaning against the headrest, sighing faintly. "Almost as good as the one I had at home, thank you! My names Wulo, what's yours?"

"Harry." Harry replied, holding his hand out as his new friend left his bunk, racing over to shake it.

By that point the young knight behind him had gotten over his shock. "What, what was that, how did you do that!?"

"You people call it the Force for some reason, I just call it magic," Harry said with a shrug. "Anybody else want one?"

"We're not supposed to have personalized things like that," said one of the other boys, moving over the poke Wulo's bed as if he wasn't quite certain it was real.

"Master Tholme tried to tell me the same thing, but I didn't understand it. I mean I understand that you shouldn't be attached to things or that having more things can lead to arrogance and that arrogance is bad. But why does living like a monk automatically translate to being good?" Harry shrugged. "Anyway my question still stands, anyone want one?"

The boys, who were all new to Jedi training clambered forward, nodding their heads quickly. The Knight To'neen tried to stop Harry, tried to convince him it was wrong and when he didn't succeed simply grabbed Harry by the shoulder and simply tried to shake him into stopping. He had been sent to the training vessel because even though he had passed his trial many of the masters felt he needed more lessons in patience, and teaching younglings would teach him that. If he survived anyway.

A bare second after grabbing the youth's shoulder To'neen found himself suddenly stuck to the ceiling with Harry glaring up at him. "I was manhandled for years, do not touch me like that again."

"I apologize for that Harry. If I promise not to do that again, will you let me down?" To'neen said after a few moments of futilely trying to break Harry's Force grip that was keeping him stuck to the ceiling with his own power. He wasn't as strong in the Force as Quinlan and couldn't do it, yet ironically that very thing allowed him to regain his equilibrium.

Harry nodded, and let To'neen go. With his Force assisted agility the boy landed on his feet, staring at Harry. "All right, I suppose you can keep doing that, though how long will the, the change last?"

"Transfiguration," Harry said, using the word that master Tholme had taught him was the English equivalent of that word. "It's permanent as far as I know. You just tell the little atoms they are not what they think they are, Master Tholme says. I just think it's a way of changing the galaxy to how I want it to be in a very limited way."

"I'm not even going to comment," To'neen muttered, shaking his head and beginning to understand why the older master wanted Harry under wraps.

At that moment Aayla popped her head in then smirked at Harry. "That didn't take long," she chirped, gesturing to the beds, all of which Harry had changed as To'neen regained control of himself. "Harry, do you think you can do the same thing to our room?"

"Boys aren't allowed in the girls room," said the older green skinned youngling sternly as several others joined them.

Both Harry and Aayla looked at him with their heads cocked to one side. "Why?"

"They just aren't, it comes down to attachment again, you can't form attachments more than friendships with people, and if boy people and girl people interact things happen." Alecto responded authoritatively, though To'neen remained silent, smirking slightly from the sidelines. He'd tried once to get in Harry's way, now he was just going to watch events unfold until told to do otherwise.

"Oh you mean like husband-wife stuff?" Harry said, blushing. After those first few moments where he had learned a little too much about his parents love life Harry had made a point of keeping away from similar topics. On Ryloth that was somewhat difficult simply because of how the locals dressed, but he had tried.

Aayla cocked her head not understanding the husband and wife bit, though she was beginning to understand what the older boy was alluding to. "I'm not interested in that," she said plainly, gesturing down to her body, which while fit was that of a typical eight going on nine year old girl. "Ask me again in about four years or so and maybe, but until then…" she shrugged.

Grabbing Harry's hand Aayla pulled him out of the room across the hall to the girl's room, with Wulo and a few of the other boys moving after them. Harry didn't fight her, simply letting Aayla drag him along into the girl's room which was just like the boys room. "That's strange," he said aloud, "I always thought girls' bedrooms were supposed to be different than boys."

"We're Jedi, well Jedi in training," said a young human girl, lifting her upper body up off of her bed in some kind of physical exercise which looked like a sit up, though why she was waving one leg up at the same time Harry didn't know. "We're not girls or boys, the important part is the Jedi part."

"That sounds strange but okay," Harry said with a shrug. "Where is your bed Aayla?"

"Boys aren't supposed to be in here," said another girl, a slightly older girl with a look on her face when she looked at Aayla that Harry didn't particularly like. He couldn't put his finger on why though.

"Aayla brought me in, so I figured I should just do what she wants me to yes?" Harry shrugged.

Aayla nodded firmly and pulled him towards her bed, which was situated along one wall towards the middle of the room. It was the bottom of a bunk bed system which went all along the sides of the room unlike the boy's current configuration, since there were four more girls on the ship right now.

Harry looked at the construction, then nodded. "I can change just yours, or I can change both it and the one above it I think without doing anything to the rest of them."

"Thank you Harry," Aayla said before smirking at the other girls all around them. "But I bet the others will want you to after they see what you can do."

"What are you talking about?" asked one of the other girls, looking up from a data reader as other girls did the same, coming out of meditations or looking up from reading or other things . A few of them had been playing some kind of exercise game, and stopped moving over towards the newcomers.

Unbeknownst to Harry and Aayla, both the boys and girls of this clan, as teaching groups among Jedi were called, had already formed cliques. Coming in after the fact, the two of them would normally have been on the outside looking in, not quite ostracized but not welcome either. Harry's abilities however changed that.

"Do you want one like the one we had back in our hidey-hole, or something different?" Harry asked Aayla.

Aayla stroked one of her lekku thoughtfully, then smiled. "Could you make a circular bed with a raised edge, just big enough for me and a blanket? With all the sides soft instead of a pillow?"

"Like a sofa but only for you right?" Harry asked and Aayla's smile widened. Harry nodded thoughtfully, picturing what he wanted in his mind as he closed his eyes. After a few moments he had the picture in his head, and gestured with one hand, not opening them until he was done, shaking his head a little at the concentration that had needed.

A few of the younglings and both knights felt the change in the Force as Harry exerted his will, and suddenly the bunk bed was changed, both levels matching what Aayla had asked for, separated by thick wooden rails. All of them gasped in astonishment, except for Aayla who promptly hopped up into it, grinning at Harry. "This is great!" With that she reached out, pulling him into a hug before craning her neck to look up at the girl above her. "Do you like it?"

The other girl, a smallish girl that looked around six or so with four tiny horns sticking out of her head and light blue hair nearly the color of Aayla's skin, nodded with a happy smile, reaching down and shaking Harry's hand. "Thank you!" she chirped. "I'm Kass Todd, this is amazing!"

One of the other girls, another girl from a race Harry hadn't seen before, moved over to Harry and Aayla. Much like the boys she didn't question how Harry could do such things, she just wondered what she could get out of it. "Do you think I could get him to make that kind of thing for me?"

"Harry, are you feeling tired?" Aayla asked solicitously. She knew that big time magics sometimes tired him out. The shields he'd experimented were the best example of that.

Harry shook his head. "I had a great meal this morning, and we've been eating very well with master Tholme, so I can keep going. Where do I start?"

Halfway through that operation Lily came through the wall having finished her 'discussion' with the ancient master. Though it was more than both of them had realized they were heading into shouting territory and decided to call it a day while they were still somewhat civil than they had come to any sort of agreement.

Illaviel didn't like the fact Lily was here with her son, she didn't like the fact that Harry had already been taught in a school that was not of the Jedi Order, and she didn't like the fact Lily refused to leave him alone. She understood and sympathized with the bits about their background Lily and Tholme shared with her, but did not want to ignore or break the rules of the Order for Lily and Harry.

In return Lily practically told her those same rules, ideas about magic or Force or whatever you wanted to call it were stupid, shortsighted, and self-destructive. She flatly refused to leave her son, almost challenged the Bothan to do something about it, and bluntly told her she would continue to help Harry in his education and his life moving forward. The fact the alien woman literally couldn't stop Lily did not help matters.

A few of the girls squeaked, rushing away from the ghost while others simply gaped in astonishment. But Lily put them all at ease quickly, waving her hand lightly at them before moving over to hover over Harry as she looked at the beds ruffling his hair affectionately ignoring the twinge of pain. "I see someone has found how talented you are Harry, don't over exert yourself though. Oh, and you might want to know that Master Tholme and the other Jedi are coming down the hallway."

"What has happened here?!" Said the old master looking somewhat distraught. "These, these beds are far too comfortable, they are not conducive to a good educational environment, what kind of illusion…"

"Not illusion," Tholme said quietly, smiling slightly at Harry. "As for changing them back, you'll just have to convince him to do it, if you can't do it yourself."

He waited a heartbeat then went on. "Good luck with that. I've stopped trying to argue the point with Harry about his conjured up items."

In the end the Master couldn't come up with a reason that convinced Harry that the other beds were better, and actually even the rest of the younglings had begun to feel that maybe the masters were just wrong on this subject. This would not be the last time that thought occurred to many of them.

 **OOOOOOO**

Plagueis frowned, leaning back in his stool for a moment, once more alone. Sidious was up in the Senatorial district wearing his Palpatine guise and taking part in a few debates about the Trade Federation's demand they be allowed to arm their ships further against pirate attacks, attacks which Plagueis had set in motion to be the impetus behind that militarization. He could envision a time when they would be magnificent tools in the Sith end game he saw coming up in a few years' time.

For his own part, Plagueis was about to leave for a job of his own alter-ego, that of the banking clan Magister Hego Damask II. During that time he would fall off the grid for a bit to start the next phase of the Veil's emplacement, and to set in motion a few other plots, plots which would drain the Jedi of their numbers slightly and their attention certainly.

But nothing that could lead back to the Sith, the thought always uppermost in his mind, hence the frown currently on Plagueis' face. He had just finished decrypting the message Master Tholme had sent to Yoda, and now had to wonder what to do about it.

 _I cannot place any devices or anything else on the_ _Explorer_ _to learn whatever variable Tholme has discovered, that is impossible. Worse, any tools I could use to do that or to perhaps steal the new variable is away could be traced back to us._

Closing his eyes, Plagueis probed the future, trying to calculate if the odds of finding this new angle and turning it to their own ends was worth it in the long term, only to come up with nothing definitive. In fact, it felt as if that was entirely impossible. Indeed, it felt more like whatever he did the new variable would strengthen the Jedi's position, though how much it would was undefined at present.

With that so certain, the decision was simple: remove the new variable. Plagueis was a scientist, and refused to leave anything to chance. _And while I have few tools whose subtlety I could trust to discover whatever this variable is, I do have several who can delete it for me. And I can even do so without leaving any hints of our own involvement, which is even more important._

 **OOOOOOO**

"What do you mean you want the Force Ghost to join us in teaching the clan? And that you don't want us to go on to Coruscant immediately? Setting aside my belief that we need to get that boy and his abilities under the eyes of the Council of First Knowledge, we're only allowed to have 40 students at a time before dropping them off, and we're nearly at that level now."

"The Force has been telling me not to bring Harry to Coruscant just yet for some reason," Tholme said quietly turning away from the small viewport which was the only real affectation in the room. The rest of the matriarch's room was as austere as to be expected from a Jedi: a desk, a hologram device for work, and a bed. There was only the one viewport there which broke up the austerity, allowing the individual within to stare out into space beyond.

That took the matron aback for a moment, but after a moment she frowned, her muzzle pulling back slightly to bare a hint of tooth. "That's all well and good, and I am not going to tell you that you are not feeling that, but I am getting no hint of any such thing. I have my own duty to the Order to think about. Several of my students have been aboard _Explorer_ for nearly 3 months now as we've made our way from one system to another in the Outer and Mid Rim territories. And now you want us to pull away from the Inner Rim. You know how the council already feels about the training ships as it is."

Tholme sighed, but nodded. The Council of First Knowledge had long been pushing for the training vessels to make shorter journeys, ever since the Chu'unthor was lost to a crash landing on Dathomir. The Dark Sisters had repelled the Order's attempt to retrieve it, and the Order had decided to let them have it rather than risk a war between two Force sensitive organizations since it had not had any students on it at the time. That and the less learning that happened away from the temple, the more time the teachers there had to inculcate the younglings into the Order's way of life.

"That is true. However, I believe that Master Yoda told you I was to be placed in overall command, is that not so? It is my decision that we remain way from Coruscant for a time."

The Bothan woman scowled, even more teeth showing, but then she took herself to task, leaning back with her hands folded in her long Jedi robes. "I will go along with this change in our itinerary for now. But why do you want Lily to help teach the other younglings?"

"She and I have had several discussions since we first meet on Ryloth, the scope of which I won't bother you with now." Tholme said sitting down in the small chair across from the woman at the desk. It was either that or sit on the bed, and that was a bad idea on many levels, even if the chair was made for smaller frames then his, designed to make the student summoned to the office feel even smaller than he already was. "But one of the most interesting things she said was that Harry's abilities were not unusual in scope, but time."

At Illaveil's confused look Tholme explained. "Apparently among her people they start going to a school at around 12 or 11, and live there for seven years. At that school they learn how to do many of the things that Harry can, but he is much younger and much better at it than most of the students there would be by the time they finish their education."

"Are you saying his powers this, what was it, transfiguration, conjuration? Those are commonplace among his people?" The other master's eyes had narrowed thoughtfully, and she was now listening fully to Tholme for the first time in this discussion.

"Indeed. But she also said something else that was rather odd to me, that their people needed focuses of some kind."

"There were ancient tales of the first Je'dai needing such," Illaviel said thoughtfully. "But that soon was done away with quickly when they began to spread out." Her eyes narrowed once more. "You think Jedi, our younglings, can learn what he does."

"I want to see if it's possible yes." He held up ahead as the womanly to protest. "Spending a few weeks on this little experiment of mine will not harm the younglings in any way, you and I both know that the education they get on Coruscant is no different than what you can provide here. And the implications if it is possible…" He shrugged not needing to go into detail there.

"Why not have her try to teach you then?" woman replied quickly. "Or your young padawan. Why use the children for this experiment?"

"I've already begun some experiments of my own, a few of the things Harry does seem to need 'spells', words and gestures to accompany them, I've been practicing them. The results have not been very good admittedly, which I fear might be down to age and mental flexibility. Or perhaps some kind of mental discipline that her people take for granted we're still dealing with a slight a language barrier after all. Their ability to speak Galactic standard is exceptional for so short a time but it isn't quite fluid yet. We're adding to their vocabulary constantly as the days go on."

Tholme didn't say that Lily was interested to see if the other students could learn how to use magic like Harry could too. She had insisted that the wizards and witches of her world all needed focuses, but Harry didn't and moreover Harry could do things even the masters the art couldn't do as easily. If other children could learn to use the Force as Harry did, then it meant focuses were not necessary, at least for spells. Runes were another matter, and one that Tholme was **very** interested in exploring in the future.

"That's true, I suppose, the primitive society they came from originally must have been very backward indeed to not know Galactic Standard." The ancient Bothan mused but her eyes were still sharp as she stared at Tholme. "I don't like it, I don't like the idea of contaminating my students with dangerous non-Jedi thoughts at this stage. You know a few of them, Harry included, are already too old for many of the Council of Reassignment or High Council to approve of further training. Adding in new teachings to that could make things worse for them when we reach Coruscant. We may say that the Agricorps is an honorable profession but there is no doubt that it does not hold the same primacy as becoming a Jedi."

The Agriculture Corps was the portion of the Jedi Order for those initiates who did not make the cut from youngling to padawan for whatever reason before their 17th birthday. Exceptions were known to be made for students with exceptional Force ability, but for the most part if you weren't accepted by a master or knight before your 17 you were sent to the Agricorps.

In the past five years there had been a move to stop that practice, simply because more Jedi had died recently on missions then in the 30 or 40 years before, and the Order wanted to bolster its numbers. But there was quite a bit of internal dissension against that idea, and no clear outcome in sight for that discussion.

"True, however, I do not think that it's necessary to worry about it at this time. Of the students can learn to manipulate the Force in the same ways that Harry can, no doubt they will be welcomed with open arms."

"I don't like it," Illaviel said again shaking her head. "I don't like it, but if you have Master Yoda's permission, I will not argue further. I will however demand that I sit in with you as we watch her teach. And if she is not a good teacher, I will make my own decision then agreed?"

"Agreed," Tholme said with a complacent nod. After all, Harry's skills couldn't entirely be put down to his power or his own intelligence, nor could Aayla's progress in so short a time.

 **OOOOOOO**

The next day Harry and his new friends woke up, joining with Aayla and the girls outside of their room before following a small glowing robot all that hovered in the air above them. "Students, please make your way to your first class of the day. Breakfast will be served afterwards."

"That's strange," Harry said, scratching at his messy hair. "I always thought breakfast should happen first but maybe that's just me."

"You can't just wave your hands and make some food?" asked one of the younger students as they all followed the ball.

Harry shook his head. "Not without something to start with, it doesn't quite work like that. I mean I could, but you wouldn't get any of the…" he paused, looking over at Aayla. "nutritional elements, right?"

Aayla nodded indicating he had use the right words and Harry went on. "So you might think you're eating, but it wouldn't fill you up or give you any of the protein or anything else that you need for the day."

The girl looked a little grumpy at that, but nodded. "I suppose that makes sense."

"Wait…" said one of the other girls suddenly serious. "Would the food you conjure up still taste the same?"

"So long as I knew what it tasted like and could picture it yes," Harry replied with a nod.

All of the girls suddenly looked at one another at that. "And it wouldn't have any calories or anything?" one of the others, a young girl somewhere between Alecto and Aayla's age with green skin and a vague reptilian appearance asked.

"Calories?" Harry asked cocking his head to one side.

"The things that make you go fat," Aayla said with a shrug. She didn't see the point of worrying about that kind of thing, having gone hungry more than once as a slave. But she supposed other girls might.

"We are definitely going to have to talk further about that," said one of the older girls with a faint laugh. "Though I have to wonder how you do all that anyway, none of the teachers have hinted at anything like that being possible with the Force."

She said that as they were entering the room and Harry smiled suddenly widely moving towards the center of the room calling back over his shoulder, "You might be able to find out yourself soon."

The other children all looked towards what had grabbed his attention and either smiled or looked shocked, with Aayla hurrying after him, smiling widely. Lily floated at the front of the room, her legs crossed under her as she seemed to sit on that desk there, as much as was possible anyway. Arrayed all around her were small pillows, one for each student, and they quickly sat in them, facing her.

"Good morning," she said, smiling at them all. "I realize I introduced myself last night, but let me do so formally once more. My name is Lily Potter, and I will be your teacher in this class, starting today. Before anyone asks, no I am not what you call a Jedi, but I do believe I am also a Force user, as you use the term. We, that is my son and I have much to learn from the Jedi, but also much to teach you."

Turning she nodded to knight To'neen who had been seconded as her assistant, and he inputted a command into the large computer screen behind her. A few lines of Galactic standard script popped up there as she continued. "First, we will discuss meditation, what you are actually learning from it, the differences between how the Jedi do things, and how my people did things. Most of that I expect will be in the realm of **visualization**." she finished, enunciating the last word clearly to make certain that she said it correctly in Galactic Standard.

"From that, we will segue into the second part of the class, that of manipulation." Again she enunciated the word clearly, gesturing to her son. "You have all seen what Harry can do, and I have no doubt that a lot of you are interested in trying to see if you can learn the same thing. I doubt we'll get there today, but I think we can learn whether or not it's possible by the end of the week. If, that is, you all are motivated. Are you?"

They all cheered at that, even the older students losing some of the self-control that they had been taught at the idea of being able to do even a few of the things Harry could.

"Excellent," she said, clapping her hands, creating a sound that the students felt through the Force just as much as they heard it via their ears. Listening to a Force Ghost was like that, half in your head, half in your ears. It was very unusual, but somewhat pleasant too. The sound cut through the noise and the students subsided quickly.

"The third part of the class will be a question and answer session. However I reserve the right to not answer any questions that I deem too personal, or too advanced. If they are too advanced, I will explain why." She laughed suddenly, sending a shiver through her listeners and they all smiled at one another. "Mind you, most of the time my answers will be 'I don't know yet'. The Force, as you all call it reacts differently here than in our own world."

Alecto, who had said he was a Duros the day before raised a hand. "You said the word 'in' there Master, was that deliberate or a mistake of the language barrier?"

"We're still trying to figure that one out." Lily said with a smile. "Master Tholme has decided that he will be trying to find where our planet is from what little information Harry and I were able to tell him, but unless I'm mistaken he hasn't found anything yet."

She looked over to the wall where Master Tholme and Master Illaviel stood, and Tholme stepped forward as all eyes turned to him. "Mistress Lily and young Harry come from a world called Earth, which translates to 'dirt' in our language, or perhaps 'soil'. It is the third planet out from their yellow sun and is one of nine, with four gas giants. It does not match any solar system I have heard of, nor does it match any in the files I can access here on _Explorer_."

There were some startled exclamation said that, and more than one student there wondered how than they had come to be on the Ryloth then. Aayla wasn't among them, she didn't care how they had, only that they had, and that her life had most definitely become far more interesting fun and above all safe than it had been before wen Harry and Lily became a part of it.

"All right," Lily said drawing the students' attention back to her, "we will begin with meditation. Would one of you like to describe that for me for a moment? And as you answer questions, please tell me your name, so that I get to know you all."

Another student raised his hand. "Mira, master Potter. Um, we are supposed to try and clear our mind, then sort of feel out the area around us. We have to sit perfectly still, we have to remember to clear our mind, to not allow any emotions to touch us when we reach out to the Force."

"That's interesting," Lily said frowning thoughtfully. "And it's just Mrs. Potter if you're feeling formal, or mistress Lily if you're not. Does anyone else have anything to add to that?"

"We are supposed to do it at least five times a day, at least, for an hour each mistress." said another youngster, a boy who introduced himself as Soral. "It leads us to self-discipline, self-knowledge, and the Force, the three pillars of the Order."

"Three pillars, interesting," Lily said thoughtfully, looking over to Tholme again. The two of them had this talk early on in, but she realized they would have to revisit it now that her vocabulary had come up to a level where they could go into greater depth. "Well, that is not precisely how I do things, but I can see a lot of good in the Jedi way of doing things. Self-control is **important.** " she emphasized the word, by gesturing with a finger and at To'neen's command another message appeared on the board behind her to emphasize that point.

"Self-discipline is important among my own people, but we tend to do it a little differently." Lily moved off of the desk where she had seemed to be sitting, moving into a meditation stopped sitting position in front of them. All of them who had the human body type did the same, while Wulo, the only one there with a non-humanoid body did the same with his upper body sitting on his haunches with his legs crossed underneath them.

It looked a little uncomfortable for him, and Lily spotted that immediately gesturing him to stand if he wished. He did so quickly, smiling at her. At the sight of that the ancient Bothan master had to nod in approval. The woman certainly seemed to have at least some of the skills necessary to teach.

"When my people meditate, we tend to use the art of visualization to aid mental organization more than the Jedi seem to. We call our mental discipline Occlumency, which means to occlude the mind. This allows us to organize our thoughts into a mental representation."

Behind Lily the robot took his cue and began to go through a series of pictures, with little people labeled 'thoughts' entering a giant building of some kind, then being sorted by color into several rooms. Putting that together with Master Tholme's help had taken up half the night before, but since she didn't need sleep, so that didn't matter to her.

The children laughed, looking at the picture then at Lily as she went on. "Picture a castle, a mansion, or perhaps a starship. Each starship has rooms, and those rooms will each contain certain memories. The defenses of that starship is also important, the shields and so forth that you can imagine into being."

A lot of the students now looked very interested, happy to have a chance to use their imaginations rather than simply trying to control their minds. "But you have to build the castle, or whatever your image is, from the ground up, making certain every part of it is solid before going on. This will be the toughest portion of this lesson, and I won't lie, it will probably take weeks to get even a small mental area built before you are ready to go onto the next phase.

"First, close your eyes. Then begin to imagine your body, as you are now. Imagine it walking through the halls of this spaceship perhaps, or a castle or anything else you wish to imagine, but can imagine in detail, that's important. Then begin to build that image, filling out the detail, brick by brick. When this step is done, you should be able to feel it when I or one of the Jedi masters is trying to reach out to your mind with our own powers."

As Lily had expected none of the students were able to understand everything she was trying to teach them, but they eventually made a lot of progress with meditation, which she supposed was down to their previous training. Lily didn't like the amount of emphasis the Jedi version of meditation put on reaching out to the Force rather than protecting themselves, but she couldn't doubt that the self-discipline part was already taking hold in the students. Even Harry had a lot of trouble with this aspect.

At the end of an hour Lily clapped her hands together, bringing the students all out of their meditations with a start. Harry and Aayla broke out quickly, shaking their heads and looking up at her with smiles on their faces as did the others after a few moments.

"I believe that was an excellent first period. Now, we're going to start the second round, manipulation." A few tummies began to rumble and Lily laughed as their owners looked sheepishly around at their fellows. "First food of course," she said, floating up from where she had sat, forgetting for a moment to put her legs back down from the lotus position until she was well into the air. The sight brought a round of giggles form the kids and the first class under their new teacher ended on a high note despite not having anything not show for it just yet.

After they were all fed and watered the classes resumed. Here Lily was impressed with the amount of training tools that the Jedi had available to teach students how to become used to changing the universe around them. They were all decent, some of them even fun, and she worked closely with each student in turn, getting an impression of their various abilities.

Their ability to control what back on Earth would be called 'accidental' magic was impressive, and Lily wondered idly if that was because of the mental discipline they were being taught, or because of their power levels. Wizards and witches didn't really have a set scale to measure their magical ability, but she was prepared take a punt that even the weakest Jedi would be stronger than most wizards back home.

 _We may be able to do things with the Force as they put it more than they can, but I think that comes down to control, belief and maybe a few other factors too mostly centered around whether or not this Unifying Force really is as all powerful as the Jedi make it out to be._ Lily was slowly coming up with a few theories about that and about the difference between the galaxy they were in and Earth itself, but nothing concrete just yet.

Harry of course excelled in these classes, though he was careful not to rub it in to his fellow spaces which brought a smile to Lily's face. Then they went into the second part of the class. "Okay, that's all stuff you've done before obviously, and I think your progress is excellent, as your own teachers do."

More than one student turned to look towards the wall where Master Illaviel was along with her two helpers, and saw them nodding. At this level of training positive reinforcement was a must, to build the sense of camaraderie, fellowship and even family that was necessary to build the trust in the Order all Jedi needed.

They would learn to abstain from emotions and the importance of putting the Order over personal attachments in a few years. For some reason as Tholme thought that he looked at Lily and Harry, and got a Force premonition that once they began talking seriously about the no emotions part of that statement they would run into real problems with them.

Still, he had anticipated it, and he reiterated his previous position to himself. _We must have Harry in the Order, if I have to bend the Oath until it squeals then I will do so._ He was not looking forward to explaining that position to master Windu and a few of the others, but at least Grand Master Yoda would see the need. _I hope._

"However, I'm betting all of you would like to know where Harry started. Harry? Was the first thing you began to do with your powers?"

Harry winced, but replied quickly. "I learned first that my force powers allowed me to heal faster than most people. I learned also that my hair stays like this," he said gesturing to the messy hair which according to Lily he got from his father. "The people I was living with at the time tried to cut it, but the next day it grew back."

More than one of the children laughed at that, and one of the others piped up. "For me, it was moving a toy. One of my parents put it up on a top shelf and I couldn't get at it, but then I could!"

"But the first thing I really controlled was making my hair longer," Harry said, closing his eyes briefly. There were gasps all around him as his hair did truly grow a little. Tholme's eyes narrowed speculatively, interest rising once again within him.

"Self-transfiguration like that is normally very difficult, but among my people there were a few who had inherited talents that let them do it easier." Lily paused there, having to explain what inheriting something meant. But the kids here were incredibly bright, so it didn't take long.

"Since you've already all proved that you are able to move things with your minds however, let us see what we can see." She began to manipulate one of the toys, concentrating hard on it, and it hovered in the air in front of her, and she let her hand fall back, hiding its trembling behind her back. Manipulating items like that was very difficult, but it was getting slightly easier to use magic to do it, which rather surprised her since she had never learned wandless magic before. _Or the Force I suppose around here._ _Whoever came up with that name anyway?_ "Harry, could you change the color of this please?"

Harry shrugged and waved his hand. The ball changed color from silver to a dark orange. All the children leaned forward, as did the teachers. This was the part they were most interested in.

"This is a spell from the 'charm' school among my people." Lily went on gesturing to the ball. "Transfiguration, what Harry was doing yesterday, means to change something that already exists into something else. Charms means to affect something that exists already, to change its place in space, or to give it a new addition without changing what it is. We're not going to go into the specifics schools of disciplines here, since they are often confusing. This is simply to see if anyone else can do what we can. I fully expect you to be able to, with a bit of help in the visualization. Does everyone remember what that word means from our meditations?"

They all nodded and Lily went on. "Good, now we will practice this for half an hour, then go back to meditation, then physical exercises under master Tholme and the other teachers. I'm afraid I won't be helping you in those classes," she said, looking down at her ghostly form which got a laugh from the kids. "Then we will come back, have an hour of meditation, and try again."

As Lily had expected, none of the students got it the first time through, but she was surprised when a few of them were able to do it after meditating again the third time. None of the colors they imagined were as clear as and complete as the one Harry had managed, but Aayla had changed the silver of her ball into a light silvery pinkish color, which was rather attractive. All the girls smiled at it, but it wasn't what Aayla had been attempting.

"The key is visualization," Lily said again. "You must visualize the change completely in your mind, then reach forward with your 'Force' powers and impose that change upon the reality before you. It isn't hard once you start get the hang of it. My own people use gestures and words to help the process along."

With that Lily split the group up evenly into three portions. One portion began to concentrate on using their abilities and simply visualizing it with no aid. The second group under was taught the gestures, and the third the wording for the color change spell. Those gestures were the same someone would go through if they had a wand, and a few of the kids didn't like how ridiculous they looked, swishing and flicking their fingers like that. The others were a little hesitant about the words, since they were in a foreign language and they had a heck of a time getting their tongues around the words, but game-fully pushed on.

By the end of that the day several students had managed to get some color changing from their work. Two students under Harry's group had, one of whom was Wulo, the other Alecto. The group with the gestures had all managed small changes, but nothing major. The third group had accomplished two full changes among them, which was excellent work for a day. All of the students however save Harry were noticeably drooping, tired mentally and physically by the time they finished for the day.

As her assistant held up the two perfectly changed balls looking somewhere between interested and shocked, Lily smiled moving around the room and ruffling hair or touching heads as she went. "I want everyone to congratulate Mac and Luci. Because of them, I'm going to have my son here transfigure something called chocolate donuts for you all this evening."

"Just to make clear, when you say chocolate you really mean it right, that isn't something that is getting lost in the translation?" said one of the girls from the back, which garnered laugher from all of the children and they raced out of the room toward the cafeteria.

"We don't usually use material things like that to motivate the children, verbal praise and a new datapad is the most we do," Illaviel frowning and shaking her head at Lily. "Your motivating them using external motivation rather than internal, which will give out eventually. And worse, it teaches them to place attachment on objects."

Lily shrugged, mentally filing that bit about attachments away once again among her other issues with the Jedi training. A lot of it made sense, a lot of it pointed to why the Jedi didn't need focuses, but some of it was just odd. _They live more like monks than normal people let alone wizards so are they an order of monks, or are they somehow a religion and that aspect just isn't carrying over to Harry and I in our discussions with them?_

She put that thought out of her mind for now to answer the other woman's point. "When children are this young, you have to match the motivation to the level they can mentally understand. You can't just demand that they act like short adults, that's not going to happen. As more and more students start to get the idea, we'll stop having food as a motivator, learning itself will take over from that point on, but external motivators are still going to be necessary going forward."

The woman still looked dubious, at least she was if the Bothan body language was the same as humans. Lily watched as she moved around the room examining the various items the children had been using, a few of which had begun to fade back into normalcy. "Is that normal?" she asked gesturing at them.

"If you mean them changing back, not where we come from no. But I think that is down to the difference in how what you call the Force responds here in comparison to back home. We'll see if the other children can make those types of changes permanent like Harry can."

"But Harry can do that?" Tholme asked. "I only ask because of the beds he created yesterday."

"Transfigured, and yes, he can. Harry transfigured the bed he and eventually Aayla used back on Ryloth, and it was still there several weeks after he made it." Lily shrugged. "As I said, it will be interesting to see if the students can do the same thing."

The chocolate cake needless to say was a hit, and the two students who had managed it, a very young boy of around five, and another older girl of nine were the stars of the hour. Then the students returned to the classroom for the question-and-answer session. Lily sat in amongst them now, since she wanted this to be a general getting to know you question and answer session rather than directed at her or Harry alone. She made a point of trying to keep Harry's past with the Dursleys private knowing how he felt about it. But it came out nonetheless, and all the boys and girls were sympathetic, one or two of them even having had similar experiences with bullies or others of that nature.

The final session for the day was another meditation round then they retired to their rooms for the day.

"Walk with us Lily," Tholme said gesturing the ghost follow them.

"Float, you mean?" Lily replied dryly, sending a last look her son's way, to where he and Aayla were apparently regaling a few other students with their run in with the Wampa, their arms locked around one another as they walked. Aayla was quite a huggy sort of girl, which Lily felt was just what her son needed.

"That was an excellent first day," Illaviel said, her mannerism having noticeably thawed throughout the day though she was still stiff and stern to Lily's eyes. Still, Lily could liken her to Prof. McGonagall, so that was alright. So long as she kept their interactions solely from one teacher to another anyway.

"I'm still not certain about this whole reaching out to the magic, to the Force, around you thing. It was never described to me in that manner, but I can understand it. Asking the Force for aid is still strange to me, but so long as someone else can handle that aspect, we seem to be on the right track here." Lily replied, shrugging her ethereal shoulders.

"I understand among your people basic education takes seven years? Do you think it would take a full seven years to get the other students to where Harry is? Won't that be slowing him down in turn?"

"I don't know yet, we'll see. I think it will depend on whether or not Harry begins to learn how to reach out to the Force like you Jedi describe. If he can, that's a sure sign that the teachings can all crossover rather than the simple things."

"Simple things? Tholme mentioned a few force powers but he didn't go into detail outside of the transfiguration that your son has shown us already."

"That's because Harry doesn't really know many attacks spells. I've taught him a few just for self-defense and the effects of a few of them do sound like what Master Tholme has described as force powers already, but many don't. We'll see what you think about the others when we get there." Lily shrugged again.

For about two weeks the training vessel continued on its way as the students learned, both from Lily and from the other teachers. They all slowly mastered the color changing spell, and then began to move on to other charms, and the simplest Transfiguration Lily could remember, transforming a needle into a matchstick and back. They mastered the two, if slower than many of them had hoped, and doing so continued to exhaust them.

Still, it was a good sign for Tholme and the others that they could learn it at all. Tholme himself attempted a few of the simpler spells, and could not make it work at all. He simply could not visualize it enough while also reaching out with the Force to actually create the spell.

As for the children themselves, they positively loved the new classes, and Harry and Aayla fit in almost immediately. Aayla had issues with a few of the other girls, but her willingness to help them out in their classes, her lack of ego and outgoing nature soon won them over. Even the Falleen girl who had initially seen her as a rival quickly thawed towards Aayla.

Among the boys Harry and Alecto being the oldest students automatically became the leaders of the other boys, which could have gone to their heads if either of them were the type to let that happen. Alecto was a down to earth sort, serious at times, but also remarkably level-headed and hard working. He and Harry got on very well almost from the get-go, along with Wulo.

That Harry would become one of the better achievers in the classes was a given, but like Aayla he didn't have much of an ego, and always went out of his way to help the other students along rather than keep to himself. He made several friends because of this, and was frankly having the time of his life.

 **OOOOOOO**

Yoda came out of his meditation in the Coruscant temple, hopping to his feet and moving out of the council chamber, where he routinely meditated when the council was not in session. He moved purposefully, his entire body still shaking somewhat from the warning he had gotten from the Force.

The future had changed recently, shifting dramatically in indiscernible ways. The Jedi couldn't describe it truly, but it was as if a picture you had seen all your life had changed entirely, taking your memory of the old picture with it. You could feel that the picture was different but you couldn't figure out how, why or indeed if anything hadn't changed because you had nothing to compare it to, simply a feeling.

But one thing Yoda was certain of now thanks to this latest warning: something was going to happen soon, something centered on the _Explorer_. And if Yoda didn't get there in time, the Dark Side of the Force would become stronger somehow, the balance of the Force becoming skewed. He had hoped to leave within another two days, but this feeling told him he could not afford to wait.

Pulling a small communicator from his belt he called down to the starship bay. "Hrhrhrm, Grand Master Yoda this is. Ready a ship for me you will. A captain I will require, supplies for a month too."

He did not look up as a rather short, almost rotund looking human began to walk beside him on the second level down from the Council room. "Going somewhere Master Yoda? What an odd coincidence, I feel the Force calling me away too, to one of our training ships. A disaster in the making."

"Coincidence it is not. Your presence, an aid it will be to me Master Giiett. But bring your starfighter, you might wish to."

"Strangely I thought the same thing." Micah Giiett murmured, smirking slightly as he fell into step with the diminutive Grand Master.

About half a day later their Consular Class ship exited hyperspace in Denon. There they were met by Master T'ra Saa, who joined them instead of heading back to the temple with the report on the emergency relief efforts going on in Siskeen. She wanted to check in on Master Vos and his padawan, who she had replaced as the Rylothi sector Jedi, and also to hear about their job on Ryloth itself.

In the next system on their route, they came out of hyperspace, quickly turning to the next jump coordinates. But before they could jump out they were almost immediately hailed by a small, specially designed yacht. Yoda smiled slightly, coming out of his meditation with a faint smile. "Master Fay, two centuries it has been since last we spoke. Hrhrhrm, your presence, reason behind there is, yes?" Beside him Master T'ra smiled warmly as in his ship Master Giiett blinked in surprise, hearing the name of one of the legends of the Jedi Order.

Master Fay very rarely even communicated with the rest of the Order. Preferring to be guided by the Force she didn't take missions from the Council or the Senate, and she had never returned to Coruscant since leaving it centuries ago, nor had she ever taken a padawan. Rumors of her exploits continually reached the rest of the Order, telling of tales or wars brought to a halt without a single blow struck, of terrorists giving themselves up, unable to fight as feelings of peace and comradeship filled their being, quashing their hate and anger, of diseases cured and ships about to crash stopped in their tracks.

But despite knowing Fay was centuries older than him, Micah had to shake his head in surprise as her image appeared in the communication screen. The Jedi who appeared on the screen looked almost young, with delicate, almost ethereal human features, long dirty blond hair, and two pointed ears. But the eyes, those kind bottomless orbs told the tale of how ancient this master truly was, and she smiled at her friends, the only two Jedi Masters who knew her personally. "Greetings Master Yoda, T'ra, it has been many years since we have spoken. But the Force tells me we are all out here for the same reason. Permission to join this mission?"

Yoda grunted and the three ships continued on their way with even more urgency if that was possible. But even Jedi could not speed up hyperspace travel.

 **OOOOOOO**

The first sign of real trouble began when the lights on the training vessel began to flare, and an alarm began. All of the teachers raced to the bridge quickly including Lily, who sped through the walls between the classroom and the bridge. "What's going on?" she said as she appeared on the other side.

"We'll tell you as soon as we know ourselves," said the knight on watch, shaking his head quickly as others began to arrive behind Lily.

The ship began to shudder, and the head teacher shook her head as she sat in the captain's chair, staring at the readouts.

"Illaveil?" Lily asked, touching the Bothan woman on the shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"There's something wrong with the controls, were coming out of hyperspace where we shouldn't be!" the ancient seeming master muttered, shaking her head. "Manual override!" she barked as her fingers flew over the controls far faster than an old woman of any species should be able to move. "

"There is some kind of virus or something in the system, it's taken over our controls." Said the knight on duty from his own position, one of the four young knights that made up the teacher's aids and general

"That's impossible." Tholme said shaking his head. "How could that have been accomplished, _Explorer_ is a closed system unless its hypercom relay is powered up."

"I'm rather more concerned with what it's doing right now than how it was put in," said one of the other teachers as she took up a position at another station. "I'm bringing up the shields."

"Why do you think it was impossible?" Lily asked Tholme as they watched the activity around them. Behind them Quinlan came in quickly, looking somewhat harried having had to instruct the children to return to their rooms and arguing with more than a few of them about that.

"This training vessel is supposed to be a closed system, the only way anything could get through his through the Hypercom relay, and that would be the same thing as, as sending someone a picture of a missile rather than the missile itself."

"Some kind of weapon I guess?" Lily asked, not having heard the word 'missile' before.

"Exactly."

"Regardless of how it was done, you have enemies out there that could attack us." Lily mused, her tone saying she wasn't surprised by this but also not happy Tholme hadn't mentioned this before. "Is this ship armed?"

"A few small quad lasers, but we have heavy shielding." Illaviel replied, not looking up from where she was still trying to stop the ship from coming out of hyperspace.

"No we don't," said one of the other knights, the one who had been trying to bring up the shields. "The programs won't respond. I think the shields might have a manual override down in engineering, I'll go see if I can activate them."

"We're coming out of hyperspace within seconds." Illaviel grunted angrily. "Get those shields up as quick as possible!"

"Where are we?" Tholme asked quickly.

"Somewhere between our last stop and our next, somewhere we weren't supposed to stop!" Illaviel replied tartly. "And oh look, our scanners show several ships incoming already, ranging from fighters to large freighters."

"This is almost like a typical pirates assault, thought they would normally use asteroids to disrupt the hyperspace lanes rather than a virus." Tholme said shaking his head. "Why would they attacked us though? They'd have to know that the Order would respond."

"Why's later, deal with the actual attack now." Lily replied, to which the others all nodded as turbolaser bolts flew through space towards the _Explorer_.

The moment the training vessel came out of hyperspace it came under attack, heavy turbo laser blasts smashed into its sides. But the knight who had raced off to activate the shields manually had gotten them up, and those first few blasts did little damage. The follow on blasts from the several small Corvettes and the one large freighter around them however began to tell swiftly.

"This is the Jedi training vessel _Explorer_ , this is an illegal attack, we have nothing for you here, leave, and he will not report this attack to the authorities." Sarah said, then shrugged her shoulders as Lily and the others all looked at her. "It was worth a try. I think we'll need to turn to repel boarders soon, they're trying to take down the shields and the engines, not do a lot of damage."

Tholme looked at the screen and the ships displayed there, zooming in on the side of one. "Bando Gora!" he said shaking his head. "They are a death cult who have ruled in all but name in segments of the Out Rim. I thought their power broken, but it would appear not."

"Joy," Lily growled, cursing her ghost form more now than she had ever done before. "So what do we do? **"**

Tholme shrugged, pulling his lightsaber from his belt. "We fight."

"Quinlan," he said turning to his padawan. "Head back down to the students, move them into the center of the ship as much as possible and guard them there. The rest of us will split into teams of three." By the time he was finished Lily was already gone, phasing through the floor and heading down towards the students.

By the time Quinlan arrived, she had gotten them organized and heading in the right direction, with Harry at the back with Alecto, who had according to him been taught some hand-to-hand by his father and mother. He also knew how to shoot, having gone hunting a few times. Quinlan immediately sent one of the droids to grab a gun for the youngster, returning quickly and arming him.

Harry nodded grimly, his fingers flexing as he looked at his mom. "I think I need to really bring out all the stops here mom."

Lily nodded. "We have time to start laying out some traps and other things using your transfiguration Harry, let's pull out all the stops here. I don't want you to have to kill anyone but…"

"I know mom," he said, reaching up and placing his hand over hers, touching it lightly as she made her hand corporeal for a moment. "I know, but I think traps and other things will make a major difference here." Lily nodded, and Harry went to work preparing the battlefield.

 **OOOOOOO**

The shields faltered moments into the attack, and the corvettes closed, blowing open the bay doors and entering quickly. About 50 people trooped out, wearing space armor before they threw up an emergency shield generator which kept the air inside the training vessel's destroyed outer bay doors. After that a further 200 people trooped out of the four small corvettes, and they all began to race toward the inner entrance.

Inside they ran into the Jedi, standing there three abreast in the hallway their lightsabers activated. "You have come to prey upon our younglings, you will find that their teachers do not look upon this kindly." said Sarah coldly, racing forward with her two aides.

Elsewhere, Tholme and To'neen stood equally calmly, pushing the air around them as the drill on one of the boarding ships bored into the side of the training vessel. Before they even had finished, Tholme and To'neen was on them, lightsabers flashing and slashing.

Stymied in their assault on two fronts, the Bando Gora aboard their ships opened a third assault, then a fourth. The fourth got through, racing deeper into the bowels of the training vessel as their fellows engage the Jedi at ruinous cost.

 **OOOOOOO**

Harry might not have learned many spells from his mom, but he had learned a few illusion and shield spells to go with the number of cloaking type spells, and his transfiguration/conjuration ability. Watching him work now, Lily knew that her son was better at transfiguration then his father had ever been. _And all that without words or wand waving,_ she thought. Harry gestured with his full hand forward, like the Jedi seemed to do for when they used their Force powers, but that was all.

He and Alecto were both crouched in one doorway down the hall from the living quarters for the clan, with two of the other older boys alongside them on the opposite side. Quinlan was kneeling between them, his lightsaber's hilt in one hand as he rested it on the floor of the hallway, his eyes closes as he prepared himself for the fight to come.

Behind them were other students, all crouching with Lily hovering in the air above them. Several dozen small metal shields around the size of a buckler that Harry had conjured into being rested on the ground before them. Occasionally one of them would move as the students all crouched in the doorways, staring from the shields to the far end of the hallway intently. Aayla was in the forefront of this group, looking worriedly between the shields, Harry and Quinlan. Harry, Alecto, and Quinlan were the offense, the rest of the children were the defense.

But it was the corridor forward of Quinlan that had made Lily realize that her son had already surpassed his father. Because it was lined from one end to another with large Jack-in-the-Boxes, small defensive barriers, wires strewn from one side of the corridor to another, and other items of that nature. A few of them weren't real but for the most part they were very real, and they were going to be an issue for anyone attacking them.

The communicator on Quinlan's belt beeped, and he opened his eyes coming out of his pre-battle trance to take it in one hand. "Master?"

"Quinlan, I sense they have opened up another avenue of assault. We and the others are all tied down where we are however and cannot get away. Can you hold long enough for us to deal with the groups we're already facing?"

Quinlan smiled sardonically standing up and looking at the defenses Harry had emplaced, his lightsaber activating as he strode forward. "We'll still be here when you arrive master, just don't expect to recognize the hall from what it had looked like before, Harry's been… creative."

At the end of the hallway the first few cultists came into view, only to stop and stare at the cavalcade of odd colors and the sheer difference between the rest of the ship and this area. "What the kriffing hells?"

That was as far as the speaker, a Devaronian, got before he got into range of one of the little traps that Harry had devised. His feet tripped a wire and the Jack-in-the-Box alongside the hall beside him launched itself out with punishing force sending him careening backwards with a broken jaw. The other man beside him fell decapitated by Quinlan, who stood there coldly. He brought his blade up into a defensive position, his teeth clenched and eyes cold. "Come on then!"

The remaining cultists swiftly brought up their weapons, and Quinlan to their surprise dodged backwards, hiding in among the conjured up defenses. Some of those defenses were blown apart by the blaster fire, but the rest, the rock blocks and the distended metal partitions somehow grown out of the metal walls of the corridor, stopped the bolts. Some of those things which were blown apart instead exploded, sending smelly gas, glue or other things of that nature all over the nearest attackers. Some of them exploded with more fell intent, bits and pieces of shrapnel scything through the attackers.

Even the ground beneath the attackers turned against them. Pieces of the flooring in the hallway had been removed, covered with Illusions from Quinlan. Other places were full of glue or replaced by sponges, which sucked the feet of anyone who stepped into them down, making them easy targets for Quinlan.

Quinlan took up position directly in the center of the overlarge corridor, a zone free of Harry's traps to allow him to fight back. His lightsaber flashed blocking any bolt that came toward him or the younglings behind him, showing a speed and skill Quinlan would have been hard pressed to show before this. He had given himself to the Force more than he ever had before, sinking deeper into his Battle Precognition to deal with the number of attackers. "Now!"

Alecto, the two other boys and Harry all swung halfway out of their protective doorways. The three others students brought up their blasters, firing down towards the attackers. Thanks to their own force powers their bolts passed on every side of Quinlan without hitting him, heading unerringly down the corridor towards the attackers. Harry had to be slightly more careful, but he began to lob _Stupefy_ spells at the ceiling and walls, where the attacks splashed around Quinlan, taking out several attackers who had moved forward to try and use the debris from Harry's traps as cover. The spell lost a lot of its potency when it was bounced like that, but it was still enough to slow down their attackers or make them groggy enough for the remainder of his surprises or Quinlan himself to take out.

The size of the corridor quickly began to tell against Quinlan, more and more blaster bolts getting past him as dozens of attackers began to pile in on the far end of the corridor, hosing him and his position down with a maelstrom of fire. It was all Quinlan could do now to protect himself, and his robes began to be perforated by the blaster bolts even so.

"Now," Lily said softly to it her students. "Groups one and two first please. Group four be ready to back up two, group three be ready to back up group one."

Behind her the students nodded, some fearful some irritated and angry at this intrusion into their home, others simply fiercely protective of their home and friends. As one the two groups named five students raised their hands concentrating in that strange Force derived ability to work together the Jedi had, something which no wizard could have done. The shields were heavy, too heavy for any one of them to lift, but with five of them working they came up easily and quickly, zooming forward and beginning to move around Quinlan deflecting further blaster bolts.

Quinlan took the time to move back, shaking his head. He had faced worse odds before he just knew it, he just couldn't think of when right now. _Although it is much easier when they come at you from only one direction, the sheer number of bolts tends to offset that.._

He nearly lost his footing as the ship was rocked by an explosion somewhere else in its innards, and he scowled, ducking behind one of the real defensive partitions that Harry had created to pull out his communicator. "Master, what was that!?"

He frowned as Harry and Alecto both raced towards him, ducking and dodging incoming fire as they came, rolling into the defensive position directly across from him just as his master began to answer. "Knight To'neen and Knight Laitha have been overwhelmed." Tholme said crisply. "The attackers have blown the reactor, the ship will retain gravity and life support on emergency power, but we are not going anywhere without repairs."

Quinlan put his communicator back on his belt, shaking his head as he muttered to himself, unheard over the sound of the battle around him. "My master thinking like an optimist, I never thought to see the day. After all, to go anywhere we have to survive first after all."

However, Tholme knew something that Quinlan could not, busy as he was with the battle and his own inexperience. Tholme had felt help arriving. He could tell two of them were Master Yoda and his own lady T'ra Saa. Both of them had a distinct presence in the Force to his senses, if for very different reasons.

There was a third distinct presence there too sparkling in the Force unlike any he had ever felt before. Even as Master Tholme began to push the people facing him backwards along with Knight Zarno, he could feel his lady reaching out with her Force powers towards him, and responded, their powers merging almost as if they were fingers caressing one another over a distance. _Come quickly! The youngling's are in danger,_ he sent back, his thoughts infused with a sense of urgency.

 **OOOOOOO**

Master Yoda frowned as he paced the deck of the Consular class ship he was on. "Master?" Asked the young knight he had brought along to do the piloting. "What should we do?"

"Get in close you will," Yoda said coolly. "Board the _Explorer_ , I will. Destroy those two other pirate ships you will after I disembark. Tactics upon that moment, up to you they are."

The young knight, a human named Spicer, nodded his head. "As you will Master Yoda."

The ships continued on their way, withthe Delta 6starfighterthat master Giiett had brought along pulling in behind the other ship using its bulk to hide itself for a moment before they broke past the two pirate ships which hadn't grappled with the _Explorer_ yet. Master Fay's unarmed yacht did the same, though Giiett broke off, rocketing towards the two pirate vessels, his weapons blasting. "May the Force be with you Master Yoda, I will clean up out here."

With Giiett providing cover fire and with four of their six ships having locked themselves to the _Explorer_ , the pirates couldn't stop the Consular or the yacht from entering the blasted open hanger bay. Yoda jumped out first followed by the far taller form of T'ra Saa behind him and the Consular turned, blasting back out of the hanger bay as Fay's yacht closed in behind them.

Master Yoda barely spent a nod towards master Tholme before racing on. "Younglings in danger are they, go to their aid I will!" Go to the aid of Master Illaviel and the others you two will."

With that he was off, his small, shoto style lightsaber flashing a brilliant green. None of his normal aged appearance was on display now as he bounded forward jumping this way and that using the Force as naturally as breathing to aid his speed and agility, his lightsaber flashing, parrying the few bolts licking his way even as he decapitated other cultists as he passed. By the time he exited the docking bay, ten cultists had fallen to his blade, and six more had been killed by their own blaster bolts returning to them, with barely 20 seconds having passed before he was out of sight, pushing his small body faster and faster hoping to get there in time.

The Neti master shook her head as she joined Tholme, their styles weaving together into a perfect harmonious whole as they moved forward, cutting down the remaining cultists as they went. "And that is why he is the Grand Master of the Order."

"One of many reasons," Tholme replied, shaking his head. "I trust you are well?"

"I am," she said simply, and that was enough for them for now.

 **OOOOOOO**

Quinlan began to falter within a few moments of the battle. There were simply too many blaster bolts coming towards him, too many to deflect, too many to get away from. The younglings behind him were on their sixth and seventh shields, half of them having exhausted themselves and having been pulled back into safety by the youngest children. Knowing they had to step up their game to survive this Lily left the other younglings there joining her son quickly.

He, Alecto, and one of the other older students, a human boy named Benjamin were still at the front or near the front of the fight, taking potshots downrange, though the fourth youngling with them, T'narn, a young Ikotchi, had died from a blaster bolt to the throat.

Harry had stopped using Stupefy spells quickly. Instead he had begun to transfigure small bits of debris hurling them down the hallway in the shape of knives. His face was pale, his hands trembling, as he did so, trying hard not to look at the body of the boy who had, up until moments ago been alive and well, trying not to look at the bodies of the cultists which had begun to litter the corridor almost as much as the debris of his defenses.

Lily knew that look, and knew her son knew he had killed people today, but there was no time for him to collapse, no time for anything but to try and survive this. _This is as bad as any of the fights I saw against the Dark Wanker and his followers, only worse in a way, he never had numbers like this!_

"Harry," she said, moving forward, using what limited magic she had to send her own spell down range. This one wasn't a stunner but a very small, low level Bombarda, which went off like a grenade in amongst several of the attackers. They blew backwards, their bodies shredded by the explosion, and for a moment the attackers fell back.

"Harry," she said urgently. "We, **you** need to start using more offensive magic."

"I don't know any," Harry grunted, sending another fusillade of conjured up knives down range. "I haven't come up with any but the push spells, and you haven't taught me any."

"I know, and believe me I'm kicking myself for that I never thought you'd face a fight like this, not when you're so young." _And even when they invaded, I didn't really think the fight would be so damn tough, or there would be so many of them! Damn it Lily, Harry's counting on you, you can't make mistakes like that! If we get out of here, I am going to describe as many defensive and offensive spells as I can think of to Harry, and see what he can do with them._ "But I think it's time to try and imagine some of your own!"

On the other side of the corridor Alecto gasped, falling backwards into the doorway he'd been using as cover, his shoulder seared black from a blaster bolt. Benjamin grunted angrily, jumping to his feet and blasting away with his blaster rifle on full auto, each shot unerringly finding its mark before his form was riddled by several return shots.

"Watch out!" said Wulo, clattering forward from his position with the other students. He barreled into Harry, taking them both through the doorway Harry had been using as cover as a grenade was hurled over Quinlan's head towards them. Quinlan didn't sense it through the rest of the battle but somehow Wulo had. The grenade went off as it hit the floor and Wulo grunted in pain as a few shrapnel pieces hit his back legs and rump. He fell to the side twitching and biting his lower lip to keep from screaming in pain.

Looking down at his friend, Harry's face firmed, and he looked up to Lily, who was still in the corridor, ignoring the blaster bolts that zoomed through her ghostly body. Magic, or the Force depending who was doing the telling, began to swirl around Harry, so much that Quinlan looked towards them in shock. Then Aayla ducked underneath his legs, racing towards Harry and the injured Wulo.

Sliding into cover she grabbed up the blaster Alecto had dropped, and began to fire downrange methodically. She wasn't as good a shot as the Duros youth, but she didn't really have to be in this kind of environment.

Beside her Harry gestured forward with both hands, and all of the bits and pieces he had transfigured suddenly lifted themselves up off of the floor. They flew forward, smashing with bone shattering force into the cultists at the far end of the corridor.

He couldn't keep it up for long, not since he was already tired from having conjured them into being already. But the Force was still swirling around Harry as he let go of that spell. Even as the survivors of his attack pulled themselves out of the rubble and began to fire again, he concentrated hard on his happy memories, the memories he had made with Aayla, with his mother, shaped and guided by the memory of Lily explaining a spell from their world once on the trip to the _Explorer_.

But Harry was tired, his mind and body unable to go on even if the Force within him was willing. He began to falter, the Force around him shivering as it threatened to dissipate in his grip. Then Aayla's free hand suddenly found Harry's. He turned slightly to look at her for a moment and she nodded fiercely at him, not understanding what he was trying to do, but giving of her own energy somehow in a way that neither could have explained at the time. Later there would be consequences of that brief moment of total Force power cohesion, but right now they had no time or concentration to notice it.

Regathering his control and concentration Harry reached for the magic or the Force or whatever it was and shouted two words, the words of the spell that Lily had been teaching him for several weeks now coming to his mind, guiding further by the thought, _Defend us!_ " **Expecto Patronum**!"

The Force sharpened, singing out in a single peeling note like a bell felt by every Jedi or youngling in the star system. And suddenly between Harry, Aayla and the attackers there stood a massive silver clad knight in shining armor, in one hand he held a lightsaber, in the other a massive tower shield. It stood so tall its head nearly scarped the ceiling, and its bulk nearly pushed Quinlan into the side of the corridor.

It shone silver from head to toe, and gave off a feeling of fierce protectiveness and determination, bolstering the feelings of all the younglings behind it. Some of them even cheered as they saw it, not understanding what it was, only that the vision was on their side.

The phantasm stalked forward, the blaster bolts coming towards it impacting his armor with no apparent damage. Its lightsaber flashed, hitting more like a heavy thick blade than a lightsaber, but it still did a lot of damage, bisecting four attackers before it was in among the others, hurling them back, slicing and attacking with feet and shield.

Lily stared at it, then down at her son, shaking her head in amazement at what Harry could do once again. Then she gasped, moving forward to lay hands on both him and Aayla. "Harry!" Blood had begun to drip out of Harry's mouth, his nose, and even from his eyes as he poured all of the magic he could sustain into the spell. Next to him Aayla went to one knee, her head throbbing, a small trickle of blood appearing from her own nose as she forced her eyes closed, trying to concentrate and retain the flow of power she was pushing into Harry but which she still barely understood.

The attackers were still drugged up to their gills however. The drugs in their bloodstream killed all thoughts of self-preservation, turning pain into pleasure. They still charged forward, unmindful of the seventy-odd of their fellows that had already died in this one corner of the larger battle. As Harry and Aayla began to succumb to their exhaustion the apparition began to lose its form and they began to push past the silver sentinel, heading towards Quinlan.

But then Master Yoda and Master Fay were there. The two Masters struck with a fury that few who knew of her would have countenanced from Master Fay at the very least. Her force power lashed out, smashing man and debris aside with the hand of a giant, flattening them in place. But for the most part she simply brushed them aside to race towards Harry, Aayla and the other younglings.

Master Yoda was everywhere, slashing cutting flashing through the battle a tiny but unstoppable whirlwind of destruction. Bodies and bits of bodies seemed to explode away from him, as he bounced around the corridor, cutting the last of the attackers into pieces.

As the last attacker fell to his blade, Yoda turned to face the swiftly dissipating silver apparition, staring at it as he deactivated his lightsaber, using it for a moment as if it was a glimmer stick. "Fascinating this is," he murmured taking in what his Force senses could tell him of the construct, which radiated to him like something out of the old tales of Force Light and other physical manifestations of the Light side of the Force. And it **was** built of the Light side, the feelings radiating off it told him that.

Fay however had something else on her mind, catching the two youngsters as they fell, gathering both into her arms. Yoda joined them, projecting before him a feeling of wellness and protection much like the apparition had, only somewhat more diluted, calming the younglings still watching from the doors further down the hallway.

Both Jedi looked up as Lily reached down frantically trying to touch her son's face, shouting his name. "Harry, Harry, can you hear me!?"

The desperation in her tone almost brought a reflexive frown to Yoda's face, the amount of attachment and familial connection between the two startling him for a moment. But then his good sense reared its head, squashing that moment of reflexive concern over such things in a Force user. The woman was not a Jedi, he would've recognized her if she was, and so he had no right to tell her how to live her life.

Fay looked up the ghost smiling reassuringly, absently noting how solid the Force Ghost looked, far more so than the history texts which mentioned such things had hinted at. It was obvious she was still incorporeal, but you could only barely see the other side of the hallway through her. Fay also idly noted that the clothing the Force Ghost wore was mildly scandalous in her mind, and determined to ask her about that later.

"Young...Harry is it, will be fine," she said. "It's just a case of Force exhaustion, a bad case admittedly, but I've seen such like before."

She didn't mention the very odd and strangely deep Force connection between the young Twi'lek girl and Harry, she would have to examine that closer before figuring out what it was and sharing it with anyone else. _The fact the Force is singing in joy at me right now isn't actually helping either,_ Fay thought rather sardonically. Fay had never felt the like, the Light Side of the Force almost literally singing in joy.

Even if she didn't actually breath Lily still let out a sigh of relief before thanking the woman, who, now that the battle was over, Lily couldn't help but notice looked like an elf out to Tolkien. _If she's called Galadriel or Arwen I am so out of here!_ Lily thought somewhat hysterically.

Getting control of herself with difficulty Lily turned her mind on other matters as the small, ancient seeming alien which reminded her of a house elf moved past her toward the other younglings, gesturing Quinlan to join him. "In that case, I think you need to get someone else in here. Many of the students have injuries, and…" Lily sighed again, sadly shaking her head as she looked over at Alecto, who had pushed himself to his feet. The green skinned youth was now shaking, staring at the debris of the battle going to his knees and shivering. "I think you also need to get a counselor in here to talk to the kids."

Fay looked at the children, nodding her head sadly. _That those so young should have to take so many lives to survive themselves, what is this universe coming to?_ She then looked around at the debris cluttering the hallway, felt the Force singing at her then at the boy who she knew was the source of much of that debris and the singing in the Force. _Strange days to be certain, but hopefully good ones as well…_

 **End Chapter**

* * *

Needless to say, this story won the monthly poll. I will say however, that I will not put out chapters of both Horse for the Force and Magic of the Force in the same month again. Keeping the characters ages, their different temperaments and how I was treating the characters the stories have in common separate was difficult. However, I did enjoy Harry and the Jedi, so this story was fun on it's own. I hope you all enjoyed it too.

If you want to influence my works more than a single vote on the monthly poll, heat over to my P at reon page and join up. You will also gain access to my One Piece/ Ranma crossover story, the next chapter of my Herd in Space Story, and any one -shots I write.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Star Wars, I dislike emo villains, or Harry Potter, I prefer my plot discrepancies small and easily overlooked.

 **Bold** \- emphasis

 _Italics_ \- thoughts

Underlined \- ship classifications, specific spells

 _Underlined and italicized_ \- Ship names

This chapter is quite a bit larger than the previous chapters, but I wanted to get a lot crammed into it, and my muse cooperated. Don't expect such large chapters in the future.

I would like to thank Kathryn518 as well as Ultimaflare0 for his work for her work on betaing this chapter. The one helped me a lot on a few major plot segments, and the other helped spot a lot of the small grammar/wording mistakes. Doubt we got them all, but I hope there aren't enough to dampen your enjoyment of this chapter. **  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Potter Luck?**

Master Giiett turned his starfighter around just slightly, coming in on another strafing run against the second of the four pirate ships which had docked with the _Explorer_ , avoiding its return fire with an ease that was almost supernatural thanks to his Force-given Battle Precognition. Of course the ship only had a single gun which could range on him at the moment because of how the pirate ship had latched onto the larger training vessel.

And even worse of the pirates, their ships only had a single shield generator, which meant that their shields were down at the moment. A shield generator a cargo ship's size could not cover the _Explorer_ , and a shield could not be generated when a portion of it would intersect another solid object without covering that object too.

The shield generator in question exploded under Micah's fire, making certain the pirate vessel's current straits would remain that way. Another second and Micah's fire impacted the boarding ramp. As the small extrusion, loaded with plasma cutters in order to cut into the opposing ship's hull, exploded Micah idly wondered why in the Force it was called a ramp anyway, but put it out of his mind a moment later as he zoomed along the _Explorer_ 's hull toward the next pirate vessel.

To one side of Micah's personal engagement, the Consular class ship was ducking in and out away from the two remaining pirate vessels. Like most pirates, those ships had been heavily modified with larger weapons systems, and somewhat decent shielding for their size, but their maneuverability was far worse, and their structural integrity even worse than that.

The Consular class had better shields, but far lighter weapons, a single quad laser on a pintle along its underside being its only weapon. Knight Brandon, the captain of the vessel knew that however, so instead of even trying, he got the pirate's attention in a different fashion. He used his ships lock on systems to make it seem as if he had concussion or proton torpedo launchers, as a few Consulars built for the small and threadbare Republic fleet did, and was just waiting to lock on. That kept the pirates hopping and out of Micah's way.

Just as he finished with the second ship the two remaining pirate vessels broke off, streaking away under maximum sublight drive, a sight that made Micah anxious. _Why would they run away in normal space when they could simply hyperspace out?_ _There is no gravitic shadow here, nothing that could have forced them to wait and their shields are strong enough to take our fire while they do it so why…_

Just as that thought coalesced in his mind, Micah received a warning through the Force, his danger sense enhanced for a moment. He suddenly saw the two ships still attached to the _Explorer_ blowing, taking the larger training vessel with them, a force vision that was so clear it nearly blotted out his normal senses.

Desperately Micah twisted his starfighter around, coming back in and down against the last two pirate vessels still linked to the _Explorer_. Slamming his hands down on the communicator he shouted "To Master Yoda and anyone else aboard the _Explorer_ , the pirates are going to blow their engines! Suggest you evacuate or find some other way of protecting the younglings!"

 **OOOOOOO**

At the same time the Force's warning hit Micah it hit Fay and Yoda as well. Both of them had been busy calming the children down or carrying the wounded via the Force towards the medical bay, but they both stopped, the joyful song of the Force suddenly shifting into a scream around them.

With no time to waste, Yoda halted his progress, letting the younglings hovering in the air around him down gently. Gathering up the minds of the other Jedi aboard the ship and on the _Consular_ class into one single entity quickly he began to push away at the nearest pirate vessel. This was a Jedi trick which the Sith had never really perfected, the ability to join their Force powers and direct them towards one purpose, one goal. He did not reach out for Micah though, Micah was already doing what he had to.

The children felt the pressure in the Force. To Yoda's surprise a few of them, notably the young Duros boy, pushed their own Force power out to join the effort not even questioning what was going on. Yoda spared them all a nod of approval, before the red-haired Force Ghost was in Yoda's face asking, "What's going on?!"

That she couldn't feel it through the Force was interesting to Yoda, but he answered nonetheless. "Pirates ships docked with us, going to explode they are! Push them away from this vessel we must."

With that he closed his eyes, ignoring the material universe around him as he pushed out his Force powers, extending them away from his body pushing at the one ship that Micah had already attacked. He spared a brief second to be thankful that the ship in the bay had already been dealt with, all of its com gear destroyed and every pirate aboard incapacitated or killed by Masters Saa and Tholme.

The target ship began to move away from the _Explorer_ , but at this distance it was very difficult to concentrate on and power intensive. All around him the younglings who had joined the effort fell out of it quickly, exhausted. Only the young Duros boy and two others, a Falleen girl and a human boy stayed in for more than a few seconds. But one after another they too fell out of the working, collapsing into unconsciousness.

The Duros initiate was barely able to gasp out, "I'm sorry Masters," before falling out of the gestalt. Quinlan barely caught him with one hand, most of his being concentrated on his part of Yoda's effort, and then the ship they were concentrating on exploded.

The Jedi all gasped, reeling backwards slightly as the _Explorer_ rocked all around them. Luckily, explosions didn't propagate very well in space, and the ship had already moved far enough away to save their ship. Debris peppered the outer hull, but that was all.

The other ship however had not yet been cut off, though Micah was seeing to that at the moment. It allowed the Jedi a moments rest to gather themselves in their gestalt before attempting it again. It also gave Yoda a moment to realize that the Force Ghost had disappeared and he wondered where she had gone, or if she had simply rejoined the Force. She wasn't the first Force Ghost he'd seen, though it had been several centuries since the last one, and that one had not been around for very long.

 **OOOOOOO**

Lily had not rejoined the Force. In fact, if asked she would be hard-pressed to decide whether or not she could. And frankly even asking would seem quite an insult to her, considering how Lily wanted to watch over her son as long as she could. Which was what Lily was doing now: watching over Harry and everyone else aboard as best she could.

She raced through the ship, phasing down through the ship's decks, towards where she thought the generator room was along with the emergency shield control console, which the Knight named Clortesh had tried to turn on before the battle began. Lily had thought he had, but she wasn't certain, and frankly she didn't know enough about shielding technology to know whether or not they could be turned on again after faltering but Lily couldn't do anything else, so she was doing this now.

Entering the engine room she nearly ran into a stocky alien with a powerful looking frame hidden under his robes and an all encompassing mask which covered his face and all his features save for large, insect-like eyes. The being moved back quickly looking at her before nodding slightly. "You would be the Force Ghost that had Master Illaveil all atwitter. This one is Master Zeltesh, in charge of the ship's engines and other things of that nature."

Lily noticed one of his arms was hanging loose at his side. He also looked out of it somehow, his eyes unfocused even as they tried to look at her, and his other hand seemed to shake occasionally as she looked at him, and there was damage to his mask as well. He looked as if he had a concussion, but if that affliction effected his race in the same manner it would a human Lily had no idea, along with what race he was.

There was a body of younger looking alien who she recognized as one of the knights by the doorway to the engine room to one side, along with what looked like several dozen dead attackers. But Lily had no time to wonder about the battle that had occurred here, instead looking around desperately. "The shields!" she shouted, "we need to reactivate the shields!"

"Why?" he slurred, unable to focus even now despite the desperation he heard in her voice.

"One of the pirate ships is still connected to us and it's going to explode!"

At that the alien's compound eyes widened, and he tried to push himself off of the ground, only to flounder back to his knees. From within the mask Lily could make out the sounds of ragged coughing. "This one, this one is, am, ugh, they are over there. You, you will be able to restart them, they were overwhelmed, but we still, ha-have the port shield generators… Gand is sorry he cannot help…"

Lily nodded, frantically moving to toward that center, where she looked down at her ghostly hands for a moment. She had yet to try to use any real magic or try even to touch material things other than Force users and she normally passed through things but…

Gathering her will for a moment, Lily reached forward, trying to will her hands to become physical, to visualize them touching the controls. It didn't work. They simply passed through the controls, and she growled in frustration. Closing her eyes again, she pulled her hands out of the controls, then gathered herself and gestured forward with one hand.

" **Move!"** She screamed, forcing all of her will into it, visualizing the controls moving as if struck by a charm spell.

She felt the magic leave her for a moment and Lily gasped, shuddering in pain. But the spell worked, and suddenly on the screen in front of her a dim blue line appeared around the port side of the ship.

 **OOOOOOO**

Micah finished blasting away at the boarding ramp as the _Consular_ class ship came close, using its tiny tractor beam to pull the other ship away as the Jedi aboard the _Explorer_ pushed at it from the other direction. Just then Micah's systems told him that some of the shields aboard the _Explorer_ had come up, and Micah slammed his communicator button again. "Brandon don't bother with the pirate vessel, let the Jedi aboard the ship keep pushing it away. Instead use your tractor beam to rotate the _Explorer_!"

He needn't have bothered giving that order aloud, because the moment that thought had hit his head, the Jedi aboard the _Consular_ class ship had been aware of it as fused with the other Jedi in this battle as they were thanks to Master Yoda's presence. Very few Jedi Masters could have created or held that gestalt, but three of those few were here, and their presence was uplifting to say the least.

The _Consular_ class ship backed away from the pirate vessel, moving downwards and away, it's tractor beam flicking out to grab at a specific area of the training vessel, where the ship's large engines merged into the rest of the hull pulling it around so that it's shields faced the pirate ship. The larger _Explorer_ turned slowly under the other ship's power, but turn it did.

Seconds stretched on as Micah watched, then the pirate ship exploded , and Micah quickly pushed power to his engines, racing away from the explosion. Despite his quick reaction his ship was still thrown end over end through space for a few moments before he could right it. But their efforts had gained enough space between the second pirate ship and the _Explorer_.

That space plus the shields protected it from this second, far closer explosion. The ship rocked noticeably, and the shields went down, but the training vessel was still in one piece.

Micah allowed himself a brief moment to thank the Force before smiling slightly and opening his communicator. "Well done Captain, very well done indeed! Now let's bring our ships into the hanger bay, I have a feeling that we'll probably be needed aboard the _Explorer_ , if only to help repair the damage."

"Roger that Master Giiett," said the young knight on the screen, shaking his head. "That was a little too close for my tastes."

"For me too my young friend, for me too."

 **OOOOOOO**

Lily continued to shudder in agony, her hands in pain her mind throbbing as she slowly drifted through the air of the engine room, her ethereal body spasming from the exertion she'd just put it through. Looking down at her hands, she noticed that they were noticeably more translucent now, and she sighed faintly. _I hope this isn't a permanent thing. I really don't want to see how Harry would react to the idea of me fading away like this. Still, it worked_.

With that she moved over to the Jedi Master, who had slumped against one of the walls of the engine room, and she frowned. She could still see his chest moving slightly, but it was obvious he was in a bad way. Sighing, she moved through the ship once more towards where she knew the children and the Jedi who had arrived to help them were.

Moving through one of the walls she said without preamble, "There is another Jedi badly injured in the engine room. There was a fight there, and one of the knight's bodies is there as well. Is the danger over now?"

Yoda looked up from where he was coming out of his trance, while nearby Quinlan sank to his knees, gasping lightly from the mental exertion. Fay didn't even seem as if it had bothered her at all, coming out of her trance quickly before effortlessly soothing the children all around her, gathering up those who had exhausted themselves making them hover in the air above her even as she took the ones that Yoda had been caring for.

"Danger past it is for now, reasoning behind it, a question for another time." Yoda replied, not noticing at first how much dimmer Lily looked now, gesturing to Quinlan. "Move ahead to the medical center you will, gather what you can for the Master in the engineering room."

"He looked as if he had a concussion, a damage to the brain," Lily he said, not having run into the word 'concussion' in Basic yet and having just used the English word for it. "He also looked as if he was having trouble breathing, and he had some damage to his mask."

Without even questioning it Quinlan nodded seriously at her, bowed formally to the two Masters, and raced off as quickly as he could through the hallways.

The few conscious children had by this point recovered from their second scare of the day, and more than one of them looked at Lily in horror. One of them even raced over to her, trying to grab at her, his hands passing through her lower legs. "Are you all right Mistress Lily!?"

At that several of the other children, even those who had exhausted themselves and were slipping into unconsciousness looked at her. Many of them started to move toward her, trying to touch her, whimpering as they saw how dim she was, knowing it was wrong.

"I'm all right, I'm all right!" Lily said several times, trying to be heard over the sudden clamor of young voices while Yoda looked on, his head cocked to one side and a faint smile on his wrinkled face. "I exerted myself that is all. Unlike you flesh and blood folk, using the Force takes it out of one in this state."

That caused Yoda's eyes to widen slightly despite his habitual self-control. Force Ghosts could not exert the Force outside retaining their non-corporeal forms, their whole being concentrated on simply retaining their forms extant from the Unifying Force. If Lily could do more than that, she must have been an incredibly strong Force user.

 _Or, a simple Force Ghosts she is not,_ he thought to himself before moving into the throng around her, adding his voice to that of Fay as they tried to calm the children down once more. As they did, he noticed the children trying to push some Force power into the Ghost's body. But none of them seemed to have enough control or power left to do it. Still, the fact they had even tried, perhaps consciously or perhaps unconsciously, was again telling that 'Mistress Lily' had most definitely made an impression on the initiates.

Soon Fay's presence and the aura she and Yoda of them could generate of peace calmed the children down. As soon as that was done, they once again began to move the wounded and the children to toward the medical center.

They were met there by Masters Micah, Tholme, and Saa. The three Masters were accompanied by the two knights who made up the crew of the _Consular_ class ship, and the one knight of the five that had been assigned to the _Explorer_ who was still alive. Knight Laitha was an Echani, who Yoda remembered as being remarkably good, as all Echani tended to be, with her lightsaber work, but lacking in certain areas of Force use. Despite that Yoda had felt her join the gestalt, and she was still standing and alive which said a lot about her skills.

Tholme nodded to Yoda as the six of them moved to help the children along, all of them taking up portions of the burden of a few of the floating children or simply carrying them in their arms. Yoda noticed Tholme glance at Lily then at Harry and the young Rutian Twi'lek that had been at the forefront of the fight.

"Report," Yoda said quietly to the taller human Master pulling his attention away from the three of them.

"Master Saa and I have scoured the rest of the ship Master," Tholme said softly, shaking his head. "Master Illuvael is dead, as are four of the five knights assigned to the _Explorer_. I have also spoken with my apprentice, who says that the master assigned to engineering will live, but will still be out of it for a while. Oxygen poisoning on top of a shattered elbow apparently. And on your end?"

Yoda glanced back the way they had come, then at the others as they continued forward. "Seven younglings dead, others injured, in shock, or Force exhausted." he said sorrowfully, shaking his head.

His face hardened noticeably. "Scour the ship you will with Knight Laitha, alive prisoners we must have."

"I have questions for them myself Master," Tholme replied with a nod.

With a gesture he gathered his padawan and the young knight, who moved towards him briskly, grateful to get away from the healing process going on all around them. Laitha knew where her strengthswere and they did not lie in this area. Leading the two out of the medical center Tholme glanced behind him, bowing once to Lily. She didn't even look up from where she was moving around the room helping to soothe the younglings, trying to help those who were still conscious recover from the shock of the battle and the deaths they had felt in the Force, though she didn't understand that last bit.

Fay and Lily both drew Micah's eye even while he too began to help with the children. He could feel Fay's power work even on himself, calming and taking away the aches and pains of the children as she moved around the room. It was an awe-inspiring show of Force power and ability, but the Force Ghost and her appearance grabbed his attention just as much. _What the Force is she wearing? It looks like something I would see in the high-end brothels._

Despite that inattention however Micah quickly went to work on the children in his own way. Micah knelt down in front of the oldest students still awake, smiling slightly. "So young ones, how are you all feeling?"

He raised a hand when a boy made to open his mouth quickly. "Think it through initiate I want the truth, not a rote response. Your training thus far is good, but it certainly hasn't covered the feelings and shock of a battle like this. No one will question your mental abilities or toughness, nor will you be censured for it."

The boy, Alecto, nodded and looked towards the doorway. "I am a little in shock Master. I, I do not know what I felt through the Force during that battle, but I do know I killed people in it and I'm not certain what to think about that."

"I mean up here," he said gesturing towards his head, "I know it was us or them, but that doesn't really matter here," he said gesturing towards his heart. In the Duros, that was sharply to the right of his chest and lower down than it was in humans. There were some evolutionary reasons for that, but Micah didn't care about that right now.

"It is good that you already know that it was us or them young one," he said formally, resting his hand on the young shoulder. As he spoke others began to move towards him, the few boys and girls who had taken up weapons in that final moment to support the Force apparition and the Masters as they arrived.

"Sometimes it does come down to us or them, and it says much about you that you were able to take up a weapon at so young an age to defend your friends here. Think about it that way young ones," he said gesturing towards the others. "If not for your actions, Quinlan would have been overcome, and more of your friends would have joined the dead. It is harsh, it is hard, but sometimes the universe does come down to that simple a fact, us or them."

"The question going forward," he went on his hand moving from the initiate's shoulder to his chin raising his face up to meet his eyes. "Is whether or not you think you would be able to do this again in the future, if you can see yourself becoming the shield, the voice of reason, or the hidden eyes."

His words were gathering some more attention from the youngsters all around, and several more broke off from around Master Fay while others were falling asleep, lulled into that state of being at Fay's gentle presence on top of their own exhaustion. Those who had already succumbed to sleep because of Force exhaustion had been placed in beds.

"What do you mean Master?" the Duros boy asked, meeting Micah's eyes levelly.

"Have you been told about the three Orders among the Jedi?"

"We've been told their names," said another youngling, whose arm was being stitched together by Master Yoda, having been hit by several pieces of shrapnel. Though he was not known as a Healer, he was Grand Master of the Jedi Order, and even in that esoteric field Yoda's abilities far outstripped Micah's or even Fay's. He couldn't take away the pain as well as Fay could, but Yoda could heal the wounds better.

Yoda chuckled, looking at the boy and patting the arm he had just finished healing. "Sentinel, Guardian, Consular. Consular I am," he said gesturing towards himself. "Speaking, learning, teaching, diplomats we are. The path of peace through discourse do we follow."

"Whereas I am a Sentinel," Micah said with a faint smile. "We use the tools around us to get the job done, ships, disguises, blasters." he said gesturing towards the blaster Alecto's side, which he had hung on his belt while the masters were dealing with the younglings. He also noticed that the youngster had set himself up near the blue skinned Twi'lek girl and the young human boy with the odd scar on his forehead, almost as if he was guarding them. It was definitely an unconscious move on his part, but it was still telling.

"We are able to slip into the general populace, overhear things that other Jedi would not discover things other Jedi could not. We help the local police or governments unseen by most. We are also called upon to fight more often than Consulars. Though not nearly as much as Guardians."

"Guardians," Yoda said, still smiling faintly as he even more younglings began to gather around. He noticed that only the ten or so oldest were still awake now. Well the oldest except for the young boy named Harry and the Twi'lek girl whose Force presences were so strange at the moment, as if a connection was forming between them or had already formed.

He would have to look at that closer later, for now he went on with his discussion. "Warriors they are, sent into combat situations. Few in number but telling on a battlefield they can be. Lightsaber and combat skills they concentrate on. My apprentice, Guardian he is, one of the finest duelists in the Order he has become."

Micah nodded his head, and then gestured at the boy and the younger Falleen, who had moved closer to them, staring from one Master to another, her face firming as their words sunk into their minds. "Should think about this now you should, help put into perspective what occurred here it will. Remember, the right thing you did. Fought for your friends and for yourselves you did when attacked, never wrong that is."

"Now sleep." With that Yoda gestured with one hand, and the quartet nearly collapsed where they were, falling into a deep healing slumber.

Fay grabbed them all with the Force, lifting them up and gesturing them into beds all around her other patients as she looked at Yoda with a shake of her head. "That was a little abrupt Master Yoda." She was not however censorious about it, in sleep those four would do more healing both mentally and physically than they would awake and worrying at the memories of what had occurred here.

"I suppose I should take this moment to introduce myself formally, since I don't know how much Tholme has told you" Lily said, moving toward Yoda and Micah while Fay dealt with the few more injured younglings still awake thanks to the pain of their wounds. "I am Lily Potter, and that is my son over there, Harry. Tholme found us on Ryloth, and we've been here ever since. I've even been training the youngsters."

Micah nodded, smiling as he noticed that a few of the sleeping initiates had heard Lily's voice even in their sleep and had smiled at it. "How often has one of my fellows mistaken you for one of the Sunrider clan?" He asked offhandedly, hoping to break the ice somewhat.

"Many times since I arrived on this ship, and I think Master Tholme even mentioned he thought I might be from that family too. I think I need to read more of your history to get the importance of the comparison though." Lily laughed.

Now that the children were all asleep Micah let his curiosity get the better of him and he turned once again to Lily. "And, not to be too blunt but might I ask why you are dressed like that?"

Lily laughed again shaking her head. "I'm afraid ghosts can't do anything about their clothing, we simply wear what we were killed in. And I was killed after preparing for an 'evening in' with my husband."

Laughing in turn Micah bowed grandly, his hand scraping the ground in front of him. "Your husband was a lucky man then, milady."

Fay chuckled shaking her head, somewhat amused at the other Master's actions and yet also looking rather wistful as Lily mentioned her husband. Lily for her part simply laughed once more, looking between the two normally sized Masters and the short house-elf creature that they seemed to hold in such regard.

She was still trying to figure out these Jedi frankly. As individuals she had met many who were amazingly good people, but she had also met a few here on this ship that weren't as emotionally aware as they should have been. And as an institution, she had a lot of questions about them, about how they saw magic, or the Force whatever they called it, and about their training. It was obvious Jedi really didn't abstain from emotions, but it was just as obvious that they didn't make as much out of them.

They also didn't allow for attachments or relationships. She had also talked to several of the children, and had discovered things about how the Jedi recruited that appalled her. The way they thought about darker emotions and the Dark Side in general also worried her, and the questions were still piling up in her mind. But now, looking at Yoda as he turned to regard her in return, Lily realized that the time to give those questions voice was fast approaching.

 **OOOOOOO**

Plagueis felt it, the Bando Gora had failed. The strange Light anomaly was still there, even as the effect was beginning to subsume itself into the Force overall. Like Yoda and the other Jedi, he had felt the Force shift, but unlike them, Plagueis still retained enough of a sense of what had been to know it had changed, and where that change had originated in a vague manner. But as time went on that feeling faded, and even his ability to sense the source of that change among the Force disappeared.

Now so much time had passed, the Sith Lord couldn't even be certain that his senses were telling the truth or that there had been a change in all. Now it was so diffuse the difference seemed almost minor, and Plagueis shrugged off his interest in it. _I took my chance to remove what might be that source of light, and it failed. But the Bando Gora will take the fall for me, and since they were becoming a danger to my plans and the Outer Rim, that is all to the good in the long term anyway._

Shaking that thought off, Plagueis returned to something he could calculate, staring at the giant computer screen in front of him filled with myriad mathematical lines, including trans-dimensional, geo-metric and gravitic tabulations. No other mathematician in the universe not even a Jedi given would've been able to follow this, his finest work.

The Veil of the Dark Side. It was a mix of Sith Force power, engineering, and mathematics on a scale to cover the entire galaxy. The Veil's effect would be subtle at first, but insidious, until it crippled the Jedi in a way they would never see coming.

Needless to say it was very hard to put in place, and every piece of it, every magnifier for the Dark Side had to be in place. These were small pillars of Sith alchemy and engineering based upon work done in the first Great Sith war. But if even one was off, the Veil would not work. Not that it wouldn't work in that area, but that it wouldn't work at all, such was the complexity of this undertaking. No Sith faction had ever contemplated such a tactic, but he and his Master before him had worked on this for decades, building on what the Master before them had done, creating the amplifiers to spread their influence like a thin veil over the Force in its entirety.

There were limitations of course. The Wild Regions and the Expanse for example were outside of their reach, as were sections in the Outer and Mid Rims. There just wasn't enough information about gravity and the movement of the stellar bodies out there for them to calculate where to emplace the amplifiers, and even getting out there to correct that ignorance would take months. There were no trade routes out there, every jump would have to be calculated ahead of time, every move a step into the entirely unknown.

But that didn't matter. There were no powers out there strong enough or wise enough to impact their plans for the future. Only the Jedi and the Republic Senate truly mattered.

Of the Two, the Order was blinded by its own magnificence. The Order's greatest masters could barely even sense the rising tide, let alone even think that their ancient enemy might yet walk among the stars.

As for the Senate, they were already able to exert power and influence there. Another few years, and they would have practically every power in the Senate dancing to their tune, either known or unknown, a thing of calculation and subtle manipulation or outright control. Sidious was handling that, and doing a far more masterful job of it than Plagueis knew he himself could.

But this, the Veil, only Plagueis could do this. _It is perhaps like being in love, or having a child you dote on,_ Plagueis thought as he turned once more to his work. _The same sort of feeling, of pride and accomplishment I'd assume. Though, if my attempt to create a Vergence had worked I would have been able to actually compare the two._ Plagueis shook his head, banishing the thought of that failure to concentrate on the task at hand.

The Veil would be his greatest achievement and no Jedi, no power of the Light would ever be able to match it, not now and not once the Veil was in place. Because when it was, the Jedi would never again be able to see the future. Nor would they ever be able to regain the ability to feel what was happening further away than their own Force powers could take them, the eddies of Force would stop responding to their call.

 _And then we will have our revenge. The Sith will rise, and when we do, it will be for all time._

Yet even as he worked on it Plagueis couldn't stop from wondering about this new Light anomaly, about what it could mean and where it had come from. Even as its presence began to diffuse so he couldn't pinpoint it again he wondered, and a part of him worried. But he never shared those worries with his apprentice, not now not ever. Sharing worries after all was not the Sith way.

 **OOOOOOO**

"They wished to take the children and inculcate them into their death-worshiping cult." said Tholme disgustedly, throwing down the data pad he had used during his Force assisted interrogation of the few survivors of the attack. Sliding into their minds while they were asleep was easy, and almost painless to the individual, so was thus allowed in extreme circumstances like this one. "We just wiped out three entire chapters of their cult, but the order came from on high, and there are more out there, who knows what they might try in the future?"

"Lost Jedi we already have, in trying to shut them down." Yoda said frowning. "But shut them down we will, root and branch, burn them out we must."

"I will see to hunting them down," Tholme said coldly. "My padawan and I are now free to take up missions once more with you, Master Fay, T'Ra and Micah here. Though I would prefer some aid as well if there are any Guardians or Sentinels to spare?"

"Three teams assigned to this will be. A mistake we made, hrhrhrm, underestimating the Bando Gora before, do so again we will not." Yoda mused. "A team of five assigned to finding the Bando Gora, under your command they will be. Other two teams, called in on targets they will be."

"Very good master Yoda," said Tholme rubbing at one eyebrow. It'd been a very long day even for a Jedi. "However, we now need to talk about Harry and our plans for him and Lily here going forward."

"It's been obvious from the beginning that you are just as interested in tying my son to you and learning from us as helping us Master Tholme," Lily said tartly, leaning back where she was hovering over a chair, glaring now at the older man.

She didn't like being away from Harry in his current state, but since she could always find him, and he was in no shape to get into further trouble she was alright with leaving him in the medical bay. Besides that, Lily had felt she needed to listen in on this conversation, and it turned out to have been an excellent idea. "I've not said anything yet because you did actually help us. Moreover Harry's made a lot of friends here, and I think he and I have done some good teaching the rest of your younglings."

Her emerald gaze hardened noticeably as she went on, and there actually seemed to be a bit of a chill in the air too. "But there is a lot about the Jedi Order that I don't like, I've seen a lot I do like admittedly, but that is outweighed by the several giant elephants in the room when I think of my son's future within the Order, the oaths you all take, the lack of emotions you seem to force upon your people more and more as their training goes on. I have a lot of questions I need the answer to right now, if my son and I are to continue to interact with the Jedi Order."

Yoda frowned thoughtfully as he stared at the tall and, according to the human Masters, beautiful Force Ghost. It was strange to think that she was the mother of one of the youngsters, and also apparently the one who had apparently made that magnificent Light side apparition he had seen when he arrived to aid the younglings. Moreover, she represented an entirely new and strange faction of Force users, whose abilities were beyond anything he had ever heard of.

As old as he was, Yoda had become unused to thinking about there being so much he didn't know, yet he was honest enough to acknowledge that was the case here. And, judging by how the younglings had acted around her, she wasn't exactly a bad influence either, certainly they had all become attached to her at any rate. That, and the help she had given them all during that moment of crisis when the pirate ships had begun to detonate had won his respect.

So Yoda did not respond in like kind to Lily's confrontational manner realizing that came from worry for her son, and perhaps a lingering sense of loss from the younglings that she had taught who were no longer among the living. Yoda could all too easily understand that feeling.

"Ask your questions," he said, closing his eyes as he took up a position that Lily recognized as sitting Indian style. "Questions, ask our own we will. Take turns we should, hrhrhrm."

Lily nodded, looking down at the diminutive alien with more respect than before. When she spoke, her confrontational tone was gone, making her listeners realize that might have been a sort of test for them, or perhaps not so much a test on her part as accidental like Yoda had supposed.

"Thank you. I suppose from my perspective, the Order is a very odd and not quite even dichotomy." Tholme made a noise, and Lily chuckled quietly, her eye, flicking over to him. "I've been looking up words to use in this conversation for a while now trust me. To'neen was a help there."

Her smile faded as she remembered that To'neen had died during the attack, but she pushed that aside concentrating on the here and now. "I like most of the Jedi I've met. I know that that whole there is 'no emotion there is only the Force' crap is just that. You Jedi can feel emotions, you even act on them, but you refuse to acknowledge them as an institution, and your whole stance on attachment and family bothers me a lot. I'm just wondering why your Order is the way it is."

Yoda actually chuckled, a gargling sort of sound. "Great secret that is, yes. Control, the key is. Anger, fear, aggression the Dark Side are they. Powerful emotions they are, control the key always is. Anger I have felt oh yes, grief, yes that too. Ancient am I, trained hundreds of Jedi. Grief an old friend it is."

Yoda shook his head, looking like an old tree, ancient and gnarled from too many winters. "But reaching out to the Force, a Jedi cannot do while feeling those emotions. Abstaining from emotion works better than confronting or controlling for many."

"That leaves you open to those emotions when you cannot 'abstain' from them." Lily said shaking her head. "It's a short sighted and very, to my mind, stupid approach. But worse to me is that you don't allow for marriages or attachments."

"Attachments to each other we allow," Yoda prefabricated, not truly understanding where she was coming from or rather why this was such a problem.

"Master Yoda," Tholme said slowly, looking between the diminutive alien and Lily, wondering where this was going to go, "She is speaking of acquaintances beyond friendship, love I believe."

"Yes," Lily said sharply. "By your own rules, I would never have been able to marry I would've never been able to love and have my child, I would not be able to love him because that is an attachment."

"Split loyalties, cause tension they do. Jedi Lords, loyal to their planets they were over the Republic, conflict this caused, conflict leading to death and the Dark side. Personal attachment, to jealousy it leads, then leads to the Dark Side. Over the years, fallen to that have several Jedi." Yoda said bluntly.

"A group of Jedi, fell to that kind of thing when I was young. Involved in a triple relationship, the woman leading on the two men. Another girl, unrequited feelings for one of the men she had. Fell to the Dark Side they all did. A lot of damage did they before they were brought down, by me and others. Other single instances of Jedi falling to the Dark Side because of jealousy or lust there have been."

Yoda shrugged. "The Ruusan Reformation, right it was to forbid attachments, marriages and such like."

"I have a major problem that. It makes no sense to me it isn't such a simple equation as you paint it. And I believe that if a Jedi was able to acknowledge that they were in a relationship openly, their other spouse could keep them on the straight and narrow.

"As for split loyalties, here is another major issue I have with the Order." Lily said, her emerald eyes narrowing dangerously, a sign that would've sent any of the Marauders, or indeed anyone who knew her at all back on Earth running for cover. Lily's anger was not like that of most redheads. She never burned hot and fiery, she was cold and controlled and all the more terrifying for that. "You… take... children… from… their… families."

"Of course," Tholme said, frowning as he tried to work out where Lily was going with this. "Learning to be a Jedi takes a lifetime, the younger we find a child, the better for them."

"You take people children from their families! And what if a family refuses to hand the child over?" Lily went on inexorably. "I understanding many worlds, that having a Jedi could be seen as a great honor, but is it such a great honor that it makes up for them missing the love of a family, of knowing your parents, knowing your heritage, where you came from, your world? I have talked to some of the children here, and though many of them don't know it, at least five of them seem to have been taken by force!"

Yoda's ears drooped, and he looked at Tholme who shrugged. "I'm sorry Master, I don't know anything about that. You'd have to talk to the Jedi who brought them in."

"Thanks to my own special circumstances I was forced to miss out on the first eleven years of my son's life. I know how painful that is, how it cuts at you, never seeing your son or daughter again. And if you had tried to take my son from me, I would have done **anything** I could to stop you. How many parents have fought to keep their children? How much fear and hate are you spreading by taking children from their families like that?"

"An honor to be a Jedi it is." Yoda said, but there was no conviction in his tone, and he looked away. He knew that sometimes in the Outer Rim parents did object, and were overruled if the Jedi who found the child thought he or she was strong in the Force. He had never considered however how bad that could look from the other person's point of view, not being at home with the idea that such things as family and loved ones mattered to an individual. His people did not reproduce in that manner, and barely had anything resembling clans, let alone families.

"Indeed, it is not like that." Tholme said, though he too was looking somewhat thoughtful.

"How do you know!?" Lily roared suddenly causing Tholme to jerk backwards his eyes widening as Lily's hair seemed to move in an unseen wind. Yoda however weathered the storm of the Force Ghost's anger, feeling no reaction from the Force around them which was interesting.

It also could be simply because the Force Ghost didn't have much power at the moment, but Yoda didn't know whether or not that was the case and assuming it would have been foolish.

"Understand your anger I cannot" Yoda said finally. "Family, attachments based off physical love, nothing to me these things are. Human I am not."

"She's right Master," Micah's voice said from the doorway, and he moved in to join the discussion, sitting down on the floor as if he was a youngling again. "I have been on such trips, I know that the Jedi are just as much reviled as we are respected on many worlds for that policy and others. You know I've had discussions with the Council of First Knowledge about this before."

Yoda frowned at that but slowly nodded. "Bow to your knowledge on this topic I will. Beyond my understanding family is, the Order, everything is to me."

"The Order is mother, the Order is father," Lily said shivering and calming down slightly. "And what if the Order is wrong? You Jedi seem to equate the Dark Side as wrong and yourselves as always holding the moral high ground. But I cannot imagine a darker or more evil act then taking someone's child away from them when they don't want to let him or her go. And if you let yourselves do that by convincing yourself it's the right thing to do, what else have you allowed yourselves to do or be talked into over the years?"

The Jedi looked at one another, unable to really respond to that at the moment.

Finally Yoda sighed and nodded his head. "Raise a difficult question you have," he said formally. "Comprehending this issue, difficult will be. Hrhrhrm, look into it we will. Say you are right or wrong I cannot at this moment."

Lily frowned. "I don't like that answer, and that's strike two Master Yoda."

"Strike?" he asked, not understanding the euphemism.

"Nevermind, it's just a saying based on a game back on my world." Lily grimaced.

"My turn to question you now, it is," Yoda said with faint smile. "Refer to the Force as magic you do. Things Tholme describes your son doing, beyond any story I have ever heard. So, between a magic user, and a Jedi how different ate they?"

"I've been giving that some thought, and I think I know the basic differences." Lily said shrugged. "Of course, any such conclusion is subject to new datum."

"Understood this is," Yoda said waving his hand. "Thoughts only are what I would like this moment."

Lily nodded, looking pensive, then began. "I was at first bemused by how much 'magic' was in the air on Ryloth, then as we travelled, I realized that level of magical potential was the norm here. Back home such levels of latent, or background magical power was only found in very few places. The rest of the planet didn't have that much latent magic naturally. Wizards and witches however could power spells with the magic inherent in their bodies, and use it to change the world around them or their own bodies. This gave rise to a lot more esoteric and specialized abilities than you Jedi or your Dark equivalents ever developed."

"Examples? I'm sorry, but I've not talked to Tholme about this yet." Micah asked intently.

"You have nothing like our runes, potions or transfiguration. I trust I don't have to describe what those words mean? Potions I'll admit are kind of a wash given the tech and healing skills you lot have. Your actual healing spells…" Lily shook her head ruefully. "I watched you all at work on the kids, and you can do a lot more with healing than I ever saw on my planet. But there are a few potions that I doubt even your powers could replicate. I know of potions which can make people lucky for short amounts of time, put them into a dreamless sleep, a sort of stasis until given the antidote, and others."

"And let's not go into runes," Tholme interrupted, shaking his head ruefully. "I've already mentioned how interested I am in them before."

"Oh yes," Lily said with a laugh. "I'm not exactly a Rune Master, I was more of a charms mistress than anything else, but I was quite good at crafting new spells. That was my main line of research after I left school, when I wasn't fighting in the war anyway."

 _Of course, that was based more around finding arithmantic formulae and the movements and words to create the needed outcome, not simply trying to imagine the outcome without the intervening steps like my son. God I hope he's alright, I know Fay said he was, but still…_ Lily thought, first amused then seguing into worry.

Across form Lily, Yoda's eyes flicked over to Tholme instantly at the word war and Tholme nodded his head. "We have talked about that before Lily and I. Her war was a guerrilla campaign between two forces both of which had partisans in the government among a community that refused to fight for itself for some reason. There are several points which don't really have an equivalent to any such war I've studied, but in the main I would say it was a fight between a force fighting for Order and another under a Dark Lord, their equivalent of a Sith, fighting to conquer both Force users and the rest of their world. We will have to go over that in detail later, since I'm not certain that doing so now would add anything to this discussion."

"True, and as for transfiguration, you all saw the things my son could do." Lily said with a kind of bleak pride in her face and tone as she came back to the here and now. "The ability to change a thing to another, matching what your mind can imagine. Creating solid objects out of the air through use of the Force on a specific area. There were even witches and wizards who could learn how to change their bodies into animals and back. My transfiguration teacher when I was at Hogwarts could change into a cat."

"That came through in your native language, Hogwarts?" Micah asked weakly, staring in shock at the other masters. They weren't about to call Lily a liar, but the idea of someone changing his or her own body like that via the Force was beyond anything any of them had heard of.

"Er, yes, that would be a merging of two words, um an animal that looks like a Gamorean, which would be 'hog'. And then add to that the word warts."

Micah blinked, furrowing his brow as his lips quirked into a wry smile and Lily chuckled, shaking her head. "Don't look at me, I didn't name it!"

Then she went on more seriously. "In any event that is one area that you simply have **no** equivalent of. And then of course there are the combat related magics, many of which also have no Force-based equivalent. Do you need any more specific examples?"

When the trio shook their heads Lily carefully hid her relief and went back to the original topic. "On the other hand, the Force as you put it is not only more prevalent, it is also denser, harder to use toward a specific goal than the magic back home. Think of it as the difference between shaping wet, malleable clay and hardened brick, and a person needing to visualize the change they are working on."

Yoda nodded, his eyes closed as he took that analogy to the logical conclusion. "Person who works with clay, imagination and fine control they will build when creating, but little strength. Person who works with brick, strong they will be, but unable to mold his creation. Believe it is possible in the first place, they might not."

Lily nodded. "Exactly. Many of the younglings have begun to learn a few of my people's simple charms, changing the color of one thing to another or transfiguring similar items from one to another. But the mental requirements to do even those simple things here in this universe are taxing on them at first. Several times I've seen the students have trouble staying awake after succeeding in a given task."

Tholme decided to interject at this point. "I've attempted to learn a few of the small scale 'spells' before this. I have had very little luck, though I was I able to change my hair color for a few moments. I think the problem is about 80% mental, and the rest the actual power requirement. Once your mind is able to imagine it, it becomes far easier."

Lily smiled over at Tholme, nodding her head. "Yes. Once they have accomplished it once, doing so again is far easier.. Their minds become accustomed to believing they can do it, and thus they are able to control their powers to the specific end far more easily."

"But because of the nature of what you call the Force here, I think that the Jedi are more powerful individually than most wizards, but that difference isn't as wide as I first assumed. I also think because of your early training in reaching out as you put it to the Force, you don't need or ever came to rely on the handicap most wizards have: focuses."

After explaining what she meant by focuses Lily went on speaking clinically. "Thus in the main, I think a Jedi would have a leg up against a normal wizard. Not, mind you, against someone like the Dark Lord who targeted my family who could match you power for power and keep the range open easily, attacking you in ways you simply could not respond to. Moreover, you are also killing yourselves off."

She looked at their shocked expressions and laughed coldly. "Really? None of you have figured that out? Master Tholme, how many Jedi are there, just a round number."

"A little below 13,000 all told. We are of course scattered around the galaxy which makes it almost impossible to keep an accurate count."

"Britain, the country on the world Harry and I come from, was one of the smaller countries on our world, both in terms of its non-magical population and it's magical. But in that country alone there are at least 13,000 magicals, something like seven or 8% of the total population I think, though I could be wrong on the percentage, I've never seen the actual data, just the number being quoted and with wizards, anyway let's forget that for now." Lily waved her hand, unwilling to go into how introverted the Wizarding World was right now. "That percentage can be assumed in other countries which had magical communities. The largest magical community I know of was in China, 146,000 or so."

For a moment the Jedi Masters were silent, simply staring at her unable to comprehend a single planet with that many Force users. But Lily went on, making certain they understood her position. "And the vast majority of those magic users could trace their ancestry to other magic users. Oh, there were many, hundreds, possibly thousands of men and women who couldn't. But more often than not, non-magicals still had an ancestor or relative that was magical somewhere in their family tree. I'm not saying that would be the way magic, or the Force, is passed on here, and certainly not for every race. But it is definitely a factor for humans and humanoids."

Yoda frowned. "Know of course we do that the children of Force users, often call on the Force themselves they can. But impacting our numbers that much, it does?"

"It's always hard to see the forest when you're standing in it," Lily said almost compassionately. Knowing that his people didn't reproduce that way, the fact that Yoda had missed it was sort of understandable. The fact that human Masters on the other hand had missed it was simply stupid in her opinion.

"Now it's my turn again. You mentioned the Ruusan Reformation, what is that, and why is it still in place?"

Yoda replied while Tholme and Giiett fell silent, each with their own thoughts. He told Lily about the New Sith Wars, about how many Jedi had fallen to the Dark Side. He elucidated many points there, and convinced Lily that there was definitely more of a corrosive, corrupting element to a Force user even feeling anger and hate than there had been on Earth.

On Earth Dark spells could impact the soul, but feeling the emotions could not, it was the equivalent of reaching out to the Force through the emotion and just feeling it. But here, a Jedi simply feeling anger without controlling it would quickly lose the ability to feel anything else. And even falling once could make a Jedi act out in a way he never would have otherwise. Fear was just as corrosive, only somewhat more subtle about it.

The Sith could control their emotions to a certain degree, but even the most powerful and most controlled of them could not keep their thoughts from turning what could only be termed evil. Betrayal and a lust for power marked Dark Side users just as much as an end justifying the means frame of mind.

Lily couldn't say if betrayal had been the case on Earth among the Death Eaters themselves. On Earth there had only ever been one Dark Lord at a time with lots of underlings none of whom had the power necessary to challenge their Lord. Of course betrayal was one of the most dangerous weapons Dark wizards used against their enemies, else her husband and she would both be among the living, so perhaps it evened out. A lust for power and a willingness to use any means to achieve their ends certainly marked most Dark Lords she'd ever read about.

So she couldn't argue that point. But the speed with which a person who felt uncontrolled anger could fall to the Dark Side here was worrisome. It made her glad her son didn't seem to feel anger like his father often had, a hot raging thing. The only times she had seen Harry even feel anger was when they realized how much slavery there was on Ryloth.

The diminutive Grand Master also convinced Lily that the political necessity of doing away with the Army of Light had been necessary. A kind despot was after all still a despot, and she was a firm believer in democracy as 'the best type of government yet found', a phrase which once explained cause the ancient Grand Master to chortle in laughter. But Yoda could notconvince her that forcing the Order to forbid marriages and such like had been just as necessary, and indeed he began to see her side of things after her revelation about the numbers of Force users on her planet.

From there Yoda asked for Lily to explain how she and Harry had come to be on Ryloth. At first she tried to hold back, but Yoda had been able to tell she was prevaricating, and drew out much of the truth from her. About the horcrux, the piece of a soul which had been in Harry's scar and about the way he had come to wishing himself somewhere safe so hard. She even told him about the moment in-between, interested in how the ancient alien would take it. Yoda even got out of Lily the reason why she, Harry and James had gone into hiding in the first place.

While Tholme and Giiett were now reeling from one surprise too many even for them, Yoda simply nodded, as if he had expected it all along. "Possible it is, a different dimension you come from. The talents you describe, known to us regardless of distance they would have been."

Further, Yoda **knew** the Force had changed, **knew** the future had changed, the ripples of that affect were all around them, within the young ones that interacted with Lily and Harry and even within the Jedi, and the warp and weave of the Unifying Force. Even if he didn't have anything to compare it to Yoda was certain of that and he knew that Harry's arrival was the reason behind it.

Meditating on it for a few moments Yoda reflected on whether or not Harry was the Chosen One of the Jedi prophecy as he might have been on his own planet, the one supposed to return balance to the Force. He had never really been a proponent of that idea, believing that the Force balanced itself, there was no point to trying to attribute any human understanding of that term on something so vast and powerful as the Unifying Force.

 _Yet the boy, here he is. The Force, some reason behind it, surely. That Force Construct, never seen the like have I, a thing of Light and fierce defense it was. Question their origins I can to a degree, but question their goodness I cannot._

"In any event, I refuse to let my son be in the Order if he has to take the Jedi Oath as it is administered today." Lily said, cutting into Yoda's thoughts and bringing the discussion back on track. "I will not let Harry cut off himself off from feelings like that, off from being a human rather than some simple conduit for the Force as you all think of it. And worse, from having a relationship in the future, that is part and parcel of being alive in my opinion."

The ancient Grand Master opened his eyes and nodded formally to the woman now hovering in the air above him. Other Jedi might have tried to force them to conform, might have questioned their story, but Yoda did not, and would not. He could no more believe these two were of the Dark than he could believe they were not here for some purpose. That Force construct which had sung to his senses of the Light told him the first, and Lily's tale told him the second. Harnessing the two of them for the Order might well lead to that balance the prophecy spoke of, it only in the Order itself rather than the Force.

"Agree I will," he said softly. "Trained in the Old Oath Harry will be, but away from the temple."

Tholme nodded as did Micah, but his mind was on something else. "Very few masters will understand why Harry is given special treatment, and he and Lily represent too much power for us to let the Senate know of their presence. Many Senators distrust Jedi, and if we can start using such powers we will seem even more fearsome to them. Your skills need to be kept away from the rest of the Order for now for the most part."

"Filter new skills into the rest of the Order slowly we must, a test bed this clan of younglings will be. Continue to train the children aboard this ship you will?" Lily nodded and Yoda went on. "Also compile notes you will about combat abilities which cross over. Taught they will to only students of your choosing."

"I'll agree to that." Lily said with a nod. "So long as my son is happy here, that is the only thing that matters to me. I like the other children here, but Harry is my priority."

"The needs of the many should outweigh the needs of the few," Tholme said, looking a little worried at how grim Lily sounded as Yoda cocked his head, examining Lily's ethereal face for a moment.

But Lily simply shook her head. "You are not a father, you are not a mother, you do not understand what it means to have watched Harry's life as I did and be unable to help. I'll admit my priorities are skewed, but I don't care."

Yoda continued to stare at her through slightly narrowed eyes, but he eventually nodded. "Agreed we have. Tasks we all have to do now, suggest we see to them, I do."

 **OOOOOOO**

Harry woke up, or thought he did, until he realized he couldn't feel anything physical, not the clothing on his body, not his chest moving up and down, nothing. And despite the fact that Harry knew his eyes were open he couldn't see anything at first. He found himself, or perhaps his mind standing in a sea of black. _A starless sky,_ he thought after a moment, _and_ _endless space. Weird._

Concentrating, Harry could vaguely feel his body somewhere else healing, but he was almost disconnected from it for the moment, but not quite. It was very hard to describe. In the distance, far away from where he was floating Harry could feel something else too. Whatever it was sent a shiver through him, but he couldn't quite figure out where the feeling was coming from, just that it radiated danger and darkness.

But Harry couldn't concentrate on that for very long because closer at hand was something much more interesting. It was a small star in the dark, pulsing bright yellow and silver, warming him almost with its radiance. Almost unwillingly Harry found his steps moving in that direction, then he sped up his journey, eager to see what this star was. He was almost within reaching distance of it, a small pale yellow thing but warm and radiant for all of that when he heard a voice. "Harry?"

"Aayla?" He asked shocked, looking around wildly. "Is that you? Where are you?"

"I… think so, and I'm right in front of you I think? What do I look like to you Harry?" asked Aayla.

Harry blinked, then turned back to stare at the small star in shock. "You look like a yellow star with silver streaks, a small thing I could almost cup you in my hand I think only not quite. You're really warm though, like a small heater. What do I look like you?"

"You look like a star too, white with gold sparks, it's very pretty." Aayla replied, causing Harry to flush for some reason or at least feel like he should be, Harry didn't know if a person out of his body like this could blush. This was a very weird experience on many levels. Something Aayla understood all too well given her next question. "Where are we? Are we, are we seeing one another's minds or something? This is really freaky."

"I don't know, but I'm going to try something," Harry said. "I can picture myself in my own body or at least picture my body anyway here, which means I've got hands. So I'm going to try to touch you okay?"

Aayla replied affirmatively and a moment later Harry reached out hesitantly touching the bright star that represented his friend.

Suddenly they were face-to-face, standing in what Harry thought looked like Aayla's mental castle, a fortress ship the two of them had seen in the history texts a few weeks ago. Aayla had really liked the look of it, made of stone rather than steel, large on one end tapering to point it looked both pretty and tough which Aayla liked to think she was too.

That was as far as Harry got in his perusal of the environment before Aayla grabbed him in a hug fit to burst his ribs, something, he dimly realized he could actually feel here, whereas he still couldn't feel the stone of the floor beneath his feet. He immediately hugged her back, having gotten used to such things like this since meeting her. Having his mother and Aayla in his life had done wonders for both his self-esteem and his ability to return affection. "I was so worried!" She shouted.

For some reason though the words hit Harry's mind before her lips had finished forming them. _This is so weird._

Shaking that thought off Harry pulled back slightly to look at the slightly shorter girl. "What about you Aayla? You were exhausted, I could tell."

" **You** were bleeding!" Aayla said poking him in the chest.

"So were you!" Harry exclaimed. For a moment, the two youngsters simply stared at one another, then began to laugh, shaking their heads and pulling away lightly.

"So," Aayla said looking around. "Any idea what's going on here? I mean this looks like how I've imagined my mind, but how did we both get here like this?"

"I think we're sort of seeing a side effect of you helping me with that final spell I did."

"Force power," Aayla said firmly poking Harry in the shoulder.

"Fine, Force power," Harry gave in, knowing it was pointless to argue. He still thought of them as spells, there just seemed something more directed about that word then simply saying Force power. "I think we're sort of stuck in your mind for now."

"You're stuck in my mind," Aayla said slowly, frowning a little. "Okay, I guess that makes sense?"

It didn't really, but frankly was the only explanation either of them could come up with for what was going on here, and there were worse place they could be stuck anyway.

"So," Aayla said after a moment. "Want me to show you around?"

"Sure," Harry said with a shrug seeing no reason not to simply look around his friend's mind. "It might be a good idea to test your defenses too, there have to be Dark Jedi or other people who might be able to get into your mind here."

Aayla cocked her head, frowning as she got more images and information from what Harry was just saying and implying than she ever had before about where Harry had come from. "You really are from another dimension aren't you?"

Harry nodded, cocking his head as he looked at the Twi'lek girl. "Yes, does that bother you?"

"Nope," Aayla said with a grin. "It just means a lot of things you can do make more sense." Harry smiled in relief and Aayla began to show Harry around.

While the exterior of Aayla's mental domain was that of the rock fortress, inside was a different story entirely. The outer edge of her mind was guarded by fake rock walls, interspersed with steel here and there, but as you entered her real mind behind these defenses those gave way to small caverns of different kinds of jungles and foliage. One was a simple rock pool another a jungle with treelike objects growing from the floor up to the ceiling. Still more were lined with books and other things, all of it somewhat haphazardly organized.

But given her age, Aayla mind showed an amazing amount of progress at a very difficult aspect of magic. Something neither she nor Harry understood really, because Lily had gone out of her way to **not** mention the fact that organizing one's mind like this was something very rarely done back home due to its difficulty.

Some of those rooms were where Aayla had begun to store her memories, though of course those were all around them for the most part zipping this way and that as Ayla thought of them as little birds until they were thoroughly categorized.

Coming around the corridor after Aayla Harry accidentally touched one of the flying bird-memories, and was transported from Aayla's mental domain into the memory. Aayla blinked as her friends astral form seemed to disappear into the bird he'd just picked up, then gasped and quickly reached out to touch it herself, disappearing after him.

"What have I told you, you foolish girl!" said a loud voice in Ryl, its tone harsh and grating. From the angle the memory showed them Harry couldn't make out the face of the speaker, only this vast green, fat bulk rising like a small hill in front of him. It was with horror that Harry realized he was in Aayla's body, which was currently spasming in pain from something.

The pain filled the memory, yet for some reason he didn't feel it. "You are not allowed outside, and if I see you pick up a data slate again, the pain of your punishment then will make this one look as nothing!"

Then the owner of that voice reached down with some kind of rod, touching it to Aayla's shoulder and she screamed in pain as it sent electrical current or something through her body. Harry growled, angry at what he was seeing sad for Aayla, grimly thankful that he had taken her away from that life. The beatings might not have been physical, but the pain Aayla went through was certainly a match for anything the Dursleys had ever done to him.

"Come on Harry," the present day Aayla said appearing next to him, taking his wrist gently. "Let's go. There's no point in dwelling on old memories like this, old memories can't hurt us anymore."

Harry turned to look at her and then found they were back in her mental domain, the girl having somehow pulled both of them out of that memory.

"I know that I suppose," Harry said, nodding his head. "But can't I feel sad for my friend that she went through that?"

"Of course," Aayla said with a smile, pulling him into a hug again before looking back at him seriously. "But you saved me from that life though, so you don't have to feel angry about it any longer okay?"

Harry nodded before impulsively taking her hand in his. "Do you want to see my mind?"

Aayla nodded, smiling as she squeezed his hand back, and suddenly they were on the outside of her mind, standing in the empty darkness that Aayla somehow instinctively knew was the Force of the universe, all around and within them. A second later however, they entered Harry's mind, with no transition between the two.

Harry didn't actually have a physical outer shell like Aayla did, or he did, but his was a small shield, literally a shield around the entire mental landscape. It looked like a planteray shield in size given the nature of his landscape.

Aayla however didn't notice the shield above them, simply staring around her in shock. She'd seen pictures of this place, but it was so inimical to human life that no one had ever really explored it. Taken pictures by remote-controlled camera, or come down for a few hours in specially designed suits yes, but actually explored it on foot? No. "Harry, is this where I think it is?"

"It's based off the night side of Ryloth." Harry replied, nodding. "I know it sounds strange, but when I woke up here, that first night and found that my mum was still with me, that was, it was just the second happiest moment in my life."

The first was when he realized his mother had loved him, and was staring down at him with that love in her eyes. There was no word in the human language or galactic standard to really describe that moment.

"I can understand that," Aayla said with a nod. "It was almost like when I first moved a pebble, I knew then that I would never be anyone's slave ever again. That I had a power inside me that I could rely on, and friends too!"

She smiled, squeezing Harry's hand, which she hadn't yet let go of.

Harry nodded in agreement, and then moved around his mindscape. He pointed at the crystals, each one containing memories, some of them made of darker crystal because of the memories they contained, others lighter. The lighter ones were small but numerous in comparison to the darker ones, and there were a few that were bright and shining so much they seemed to match the stars above. All in all it was a beautiful sight, though Aayla didn't spend much time looking at the crystals, at least at first.

Instead, she was interested in the fact Harry had imagined real monsters into being to defend his mind.

"The outer thoughts I don't mind people finding make up the shield, or right below the shield anyway," Harry said, haltingly as he tried to describe what he was talking about. "But if someone gets past them, pushes through my outer defenses to the real mindscape, then they are attacked as they come down towards the ground. And, the organization of my memories is randomized. The only way someone can find a single one they might be searching for is if they have me with them at the time."

"I'll start doing that too," Aayla said with a firm nod. "Randomize my memories, or just use an organization method that's only for me. That's a great idea Harry! But these monsters, show me one."

Harry did so, moving around a pile of light and dark mixed crystals, while Aayla wondered about those but did not reach out to touch them. Not yet. Harry was trusting her a lot to let her in like this. She wouldn't abuse his trust by diving into his memories without permission.

"That, that's a Lylek!" Aayla said stopping in her tracks and backing away, an instinctual fear for the monster in front of her taking her breath away for a moment. Or it would've taken her breath away, if she was currently breathing.

"Yeah I know," Harry said chuckling a little at her response. "Trust me, it made an impression on me too. A few of the other monsters I've conjured up from what Mum remembered of monsters back on my own world, but this one I actually saw so I've got a few of the bloody things around here."

Aayla nodded and for a time the two of them went around, looking at the monsters Harry had conjured into being. Only two of them, the wampa and the Lylek looked real to Aayla's mind though, there were just some little things about the others that didn't match where Harry's imagination hadn't been able to recreate it exactly. After a little while though, Aayla began to look at the crystals around them again, her curiosity evident especially when she saw those memories that were mixed in nature. The largest crystal of that type in particular called to her attention.

Harry saw this and frowned, before nodding his head. It would only be fair. "Um do you, that is, I saw one of your memories, so…"

"Um yes, but, but that is only if you want me to?" Aayla hesitantly replied.

"It's fine, and that one, that memory is one of the more important ones around here, while at the same time not being all that painful." Harry replied, running one hand through his hair distractedly, before reaching out and taking Aayla's hand squeezing it once before leading over toward the memory crystal which had grabbed Aayla's attention.

At his nod, Aayla reached forward and touched the memory in front of them, and found herself in Harry's body as he went through his apparition accident. She snarled and her hands bent like claws as she watched the bullies chase Harry down the street. She smiled as he did his popping trick to get away, only to gasp anew as she saw what he had done to himself.

She remained silent as the men appeared and began to heal his hand then frowned again at the ancient looking human with the monstrous beard and the strangely twinkling eyes. Then she growled as the man seemed to wave a stick and suddenly the memory paused shimmering into nothingness. "What the heck…"

"You've heard my mom talk about how people back home used focuses right?" Harry waited until Aayla nodded, then went on. "Well, that old man, Dumbledore, and these others used their wands to cast spells. Mum told me he cast some kind of spell which blocked me from seeing this memory. It opened up after... well, you had your master, I had the Dursleys."

Aayla growled again, pulling Harry into a fierce one armed hug. In a deliberate attempt to change the subject, she asked him to replay the memory so they could watch how the wizards healed his hand more closely.

"I like this one," she said aloud as the memory resumed from that point, pointing. "The one who looked angry at the old man. His accent's funny for some reason."

"I think he's Scottish." Harry said thoughtfully. "And I kind of liked him too. I would've liked to see what he'd have done to the Dursleys."

"I don't think they would've liked it." Aayla said coldly. "I don't think they'd like what I'd do to them. Among my people slavery's normal, but among yours it wasn't normal, **they** weren't normal no matter how much they said the words!"

Blinking, Harry realized Aayla was getting more out of being in his mind then he had thought possible without actually diving into his memories. Odd, but he was okay with that for some reason, since he had been able to see a bit more of Aayla a time or two in her mind before this.

After a moment they found themselves back in Harry's mind, and Aayla looked at him thoughtfully. "Scottish?"

"I guess you could say like it's a clan I suppose." Harry pictured a Scotsman from the movie Highlander in his mind, the image hovering between them.

Aayla looked at it quizzically. "Why are they wearing skirts that look like those ugly sweaters I've seen on a few humans a time or two?"

"I don't know," Harry said thoughtfully looking at the image. "I don't know if they even do that any longer, this image was from a movie set a few hundred years ago."

"It would be kind of strange." Aayla said diplomatically. "Isn't there a word in Galactic Standard for boys who dress up like girls?"

"I don't think it's the same thing," Harry said, frowning. "But maybe I'm wrong, I only saw a single scene from that movie before the Dursleys ordered me into my cupboard."

Again Aayla seemed to get more out of that statement than just his words, and she scowled before pulling him into another hug, which he returned warmly. She pulled back grinning mischievously as she tapped him on the shoulder. "Tag, you're it!"

With that she ran off through the crystal spires. Harry blinked in surprise for a moment, then raced after her, laughing.

How long the two of them played in Harry's mind they didn't know, but suddenly they stopped, both of them staring upwards towards the shield which protected Harry's mind. Then they were outside, their mental projections floating on the eddies of the Unifying Force. Harry looked around wildly unable to understand what he was feeling, he hadn't yet gotten used to feeling things through the Force.

Aayla had however, and she smiled, turning in the direction she somehow knew their bodies to be from wherever their spirits were now. "Harry, I think it's time we return." She took his hand again, and…

Just like that the two of them were somewhere else, once again in their own bodies. Harry could feel his clothing on his body, the idea of full sensation returning to him. He could hear singing somewhere nearby and knew it was his mother humming.

He smiled at that, slowly opening his eyes to see his friends around him. Aayla was in a bed nearby opening her eyes just as he was, with a young woman he had never met before with elven ears and his friends Alecto and Wulo sitting up on a bed together nearby with two girls on another bed beside them.

"Harry!" Lily's humming cut off abruptly, and she suddenly leaned down into his line of sight, smiling at him. "How are you feeling, love?"

"I feel fine Mum," then he frowned suddenly sitting up abruptly as he looked at her.

Aayla had opened her eyes too and she gaped at Lily just like Harry. "What happened?" she shouted, "You're so see through!?"

"I did a little too much magic dears," Lily replied soothingly, holding her hands out to either of them. Being Force users they were able to take her hands, even as translucent as she was right now if they tried. "Nothing to worry yourselves over. I'm already markedly more solid-seeming than I was right afterwards."

Harry frowned, and he began to push his power into her slightly. Across from him Aayla noticed this, and did the same.

"No," the elven-looking woman said simply, holding up a finger and suddenly Harry and Aayla were both pushed backwards against their beds away from Lily. "I understand and approve the sentiment young ones, but neither of you have enough Force power within you right now to be so cavalier with it. Please do not make more work for us then you already have."

Harry scowled at the woman, but Lily nodded her head firmly. "I appreciate the thought Harry, Aayla. But she's right, you've been out for three days already recovering, that's more than enough for me!"

The two children looked at one another then back at her before Harry spoke. "Really? Three days? It didn't feel like that at all to us."

The last part of that comment caught Lily's attention, and she looked at Fay who looked back, shrugging her shoulders. Though she was smiling as she did it Lily noticed.

Harry looked past his mother now for a second smiling at his friends. Zule Xiss, the red-skinned Falleen girl who had become Aayla's closest friend, also smiled at him and Aayla. "Glad to see you all made it."

"Glad to see you two awake." Alecto said with a smile, hopping off the bed and moving over to grab Harry's hand in his before touching Aayla's shoulder as Zule hopped into bed with the younger Twi'lek girl, throwing an arm over her shoulder as Wulo clattered over on his small hooves smiling happily. The five of them all began to talk at once, telling one another what had happened during and after the fight, while Lily and the other two adult in the room looked on with smiles on their faces.

"Mum who are they?" Harry asked after the round of happy greetings were over gesturing to the newcomers.

"We're going to have to step up lessons on manners I think." Lily mused, while Fay and Micah laughed. "These are Master Fay and Master Giiett, they arrived with help and have been in here helping the children who suffered from Force exhaustion and other injuries ever since."

Harry frowned thoughtfully cocking his head to one side, noticing now that Alecto's shoulder had been healed as good as new. "I remember some kind of little green creature. I thought he was a house-elf at first from your descriptions of them, but he was using a lightsaber and was really bouncing around the place."

"That would be Master Yoda and yes, he does as you put it bounce around the place." Fay replied dryly, making a mental note to ask Lily about house elves sometime in the future. Moving over to the bed she lay a gentle hand on Harry's forehead, her palm over his scar. "That is his style of combat, which is based off the lightsaber form called Ataru, or Way of the Hawk Bat. His version has evolved into an odd mix of knowing precisely where he is supposed to be, and never being where you think he should be."

"That sounds really hard to master," Harry said, with Aayla nodding agreement.

"It is. Master Yoda is known as the greatest swordsman in the Order despite his advanced age." Fay smiled, taking hand away from Harry's forehead.

"Good, it looks as if your reserves are coming back very nicely. I would recommend not using any Force for a few more days, but you should be fine to move around. Now for you child," she finished moving over to Aayla smiling down at the girl who smiled up at the very pretty woman shyly.

Harry moved over to her bed, and Aayla threw an arm around his shoulders as Fay touched her hand to the Twi'lek girl's forehead. Aayla cocked her head thoughtfully as Fay moved on to run a gentle hand down her lekku. "Hugging like this feels different than doing it in our minds."

"In your minds?" Lily asked, hovering beside Fay as she continued to look Aayla over. Other than still showing signs of extreme Force exhaustion, both children were showing no sign of atrophy or anything else. That was good, very good indeed after having spent the past three days stuck in bed at their age.

Harry and Aayla described the experience to which the Masters listened attentively, and Lily nodded along. "Your mental landscapes are coming along very well, I'm impressed." she said smiling faintly, reaching down to ruffle Harry's hair and lay a gentle hand on Aayla's head where her lekku merged into her head.

"Interesting," Micah said thoughtfully as both children beamed at the praise and their fellows clamored in with their own congratulations, none of them understanding the significance of being able to meet mind to mind like that. "I have never heard of the ability to defend one's mind so actively before. Would you mind if I tested those defenses?"

Harry looked at his mother for permission something that Micah noticed, and he turned inquisitive eyes to her as well. "If you say no, I won't do it." he said simply, knowing that Lily still was a little leery of the Jedi in general.

Lily looked at him thoughtfully then nodded. "Just try to get past the outer defenses I think, but we'll see what happens."

Nodding Micah gestured with a finger from one hand towards Ayla, who he thought would probably be the easier one to start with. He felt the edge of Aayla's mental landscape, the shield around her ship, and breached it quickly something which caused Aayla's eyes to widen. Apparently even if her outer layer didn't work to protect her, she could still feel what was going on, which was excellent in his mind.

Then suddenly something changed. Just as he penetrated the first shield, a second shield appeared around Aayla's mind. His probe bounced, and Micah's mental probe rebounded on his mind, causing him to rear his head back lightly shaking it. "Ow," he muttered, "that was interesting."

"Thanks Harry," Aayla said pushing her shoulder against Harry's, and he nodded seriously.

"That was impressive, I wonder if she can do the same thing for you Harry." Micah asked, and after getting Lily's nod again began to send a probe into Harry's mind. This time getting through the outer shield was tougher but after he did, a second shield appeared, bouncing him away.

Micah shook his head ruefully, moving back slightly to sit on a bed nearby. "That was astonishing, I have never heard of one Jedi being able to keep someone out of another Jedi's mind like that." _Of course in this day and age the only people able to get into our minds are other Jedi, so why would we train to protect our minds like that? Something to consider in the future._

"I think that will be the least of the differences you will see between these two." Fay said, smiling thoughtfully as she looked between them. "They have bonded."

Lily broke off her own examination of the two children to stare at Fay in shock. "Bonded!? That only happens in sappy fairytales."

"Oh no, it's quite real. The padawan-master bond is one of the most sacred rights the Jedi enact, and this looks to be something similar only not quite. Not nearly as controlled as that and also between equals in this case as well. Can you hear one another's thoughts children? Try not to look at one another when you try."

Harry dutifully turned away from Aayla as she did the same, and after a moment Aayla began. "He's thinking this is rather silly, and that he likes Zule's hair color." With that she elbowed Harry in the back irritated.

"Ow." Harry muttered, but recited what Aayla was thinking. "She's a little irritated at me for some reason, but now she's thinking wistfully that hair must be interesting, and wondering if Zule will let her play with it. You don't have to worry Aayla though I think your lekku are plenty neat!"

"That's true, and don't worry Aayla, you can play with my hair later." Zule said, looking between her two friends, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Oh dear," Lily murmured ruefully as Micah shook his head in consternation. "Puberty is going to be quite interesting for you two."

To that Harry could only flush having a decent idea what that meant, while Aayla simply looked confused as to why all three of the adults had begun chuckling.

 **OOOOOOO**

Master Tholme looked at his padawan as they neared the medical center. The boy was looking a little odd frankly as if he was feeling something but didn't know what it was or what to make of it. _Or is that a lack of what to make of it I am sensing?_ "Quinlan you look troubled."

"I am Master." The young man paused looking at is Master. "You realize I was feeling a growing padawan bond with Aayla."

"Yes it was rather obvious, and we have commented on it several times. Why are you bringing this up now?" Tholme asked, his eyes narrowing.

"The bond is weaker now than it was before. It became weakened after the battle. I thought at first that was because she had exhausted herself so much, but it has not returned to its original strength. Even now when she has apparently been awake for several hours it has not become any stronger. I still feel the bond, but only barely."

Tholme frowned. "She could still be weak. I have never heard of an initiate with a padawan bond feeling Force exhaustion as Aayla had, this could simply be a side effect of that. Regardless we will get to the bottom of it soon enough."

Quinlan nodded, following his master into the medical center, where they came upon several initiates energetically showing off a few of the color changing talents they had learned from Lily. Tholme smiled at the sight, and his smile widened slightly when he saw Harry and Aayla sitting up on one bed talking excitedly to a few of the other clan members, while Lily, Micah, and Fay discussed something in one corner.

Lily looked at the two of them, then her eyes strangely slid past Tholme to settle on Quinlan before she gestured them over. "Something happened while Aayla and Harry were asleep you two should know about," she began, then it looked over to Fay to handle the actual explanation.

Of the three, Fay had been able to feel the majority of what they had discovered about the strange bond between Aayla and Harry. _And it is strange_ Lily reflected as they began to talk. _There's certainly not anything like that on Earth, magical bonding were just a made up plot point for juvenile romance novels, not reality. Magical oaths are a different story entirely, very serious business, just like magically bound legal agreements. But actual bonds, like this one no._

What was odder was that they could sense one another's thoughts even after Lily explained how to keep one another out. As young as the two of them were they saw no reason to keep one another out yet, but at least Harry understood that eventually that might be necessary. They could also feel one another's presence, which was beyond anything she had ever heard of.

 _That aspect is sort of like a familiar bond, a familiar would always know where his master is, and oftentimes vice-versa. But that's not right either because in the familiar bond the familiar is most definitely secondary in the bond, getting a lot from its master, but giving only of its physical abilities and becoming somewhat subservient to said master._

 _Though I've never heard of a familiar bond between a magical creature and a person except for possibly Albus and his phoenix which he may or may not have been bonded with._ Lily had her doubts about that one. _Maybe it's different if the familiar is intelligent enough to have nearly human thoughts, but I doubt even that is anything like this!_

She broke out of musings as Quinlan reeled back, shaking his head and looking over at Aayla. "So that is why."

"Why what?" Lily asked.

"I can no longer feel the padawan bond between myself and Aayla growing, it is a faint shadow of what it was before. I would assume this is because she can only sustain one such bond at a time, and this one sounds stronger than a padawan bond is supposed to be anyway." Quinlan replied.

"I'm sorry," Lily said softly, reaching out an ethereal hand to touch the young man's shoulder. "I understand how important those are to Jedi."

"I will get over it." Quinlan said smiling slightly at her touch, nodding up at her and then over Master Tholme. "Besides it's not like it is entirely gone, I can still sense her, if vaguely."

Tholme looked at him gravely before nodding his head in approval of his padawan's manner.

Just then the door to the infirmary opened, and two more newcomers walked in. One of them was the diminutive green-skinned alien with long ears that Harry had remembered seeing. Instead of bouncing all over the place though he moved now like an old man, and indeed looked it. He had wizened, wrinkled features and white tufts of hair on his head. For all that however his aged eyes were clear and intelligent, holding a power in them that somehow Harry felt as he entered, leaning on a small wooden cane as he did.

The second was a tall woman with hair that moved like hair would but looked like thin tree branches falling down past her shoulders. Her face looked kind but stern, with a tan complexion and skin that looked like a cross between human skin and a slim, young elm tree's. She had wide lips which were currently set in a small smile, and light blue eyes. She also felt old to the younglings, almost as old as the short green skinned Jedi.

They both looked back at Harry for a moment as they walked in and the diminutive alien spoke. "Hrhrhrm, greetings, Young Harry Potter, Yoda I am, Grand Master. Eager to meet and talk with you I have been, thankful to see you awake we are."

Harry could only nod his head, unable to break away from that aged knowing gaze as Yoda moved toward his bed. For some reason he felt Yoda was, not testing him, but feeling him out, not his mind but his very being, in a way Harry could not understand.

Whatever he felt however seemed to satisfy the old being and suddenly Harry heard Yoda's thoughts in his mind, as did Aayla since their minds were still connected. _"Hrhrhrm, tested you have been. Grief you have felt, anger you have felt, given into it you have not, the dangers of that path you have seen. A defender you have become rather than an avenger. Good, hehehrereh, good, stay true to that you should. Even if alone in your own mind you are not. Interesting that is, this bond study it we must."_

Then the communication off and Harry and Aayla looked at one another in surprise. But before they could speak Yoda went on aloud. "Introduce you I should to Master T'ra Saa, new head of this academy she is." Then he suddenly smiled, changing his wizened face almost entirely as he reached up, touching Harry on his shin where it stuck over the bed. "But learning, all of us will be here. Learning from one another we will. Looking forward to being a student I am, a long time it has been, hrhrhrm…"

 **OOOOOOO**

The next few days Harry and the other injured joined the rest of the clan who had been busy since the battle through physical exercises, as well as playing gofers for the Jedi who were busy trying to repair the ship. Alecto and a few of the other most serious minded were put on duty aboard the ships bridge to watch the radar screen and help with some of the computer work going on, while others were simply used as gophers in the engine room or elsewhere on the ship. Luckily, the Jedi had already disposed of the bodies of the attackers, so it wasn't as disturbing as it would've been for the youngsters.

Master Saa also took this time to get to know the students as well as she could. They found her kind but demanding, subtly teaching the students the type of comportment they would have to have as Jedi. It helped, as did the sessions with Fay, T'ra and Micah about the fight, getting the children to understand what had happened, why and that those who had killed during the battle had not been wrong to do so, despite feeling the deaths of their attackers through the Force.

Lily found she liked both T'ra and Fay, and Micah was a mix between Professor Flitwick and Remus Lupin, serious but with a sense of humor and a humanity that shone through his actions. T'ra and Fay reminded her of a few teachers she had in preparatory school, though the Neti was somewhat intimidating when she wanted to be.

All three women became friends over the shared task of helping the students move past the shock of the battle, and both Jedi were admittedly curious about Lily, her world and, amusingly to Lily, what being married and giving birth had been like. She didn't try to sugarcoat it, telling them about the good and the bad, which scared both women despite their knowledge as healers, never having been present at a birth, and despite the Neti not reproducing like that. But Lily noted the wistful expression on Fay's face and the thoughtful one on Saa's when she mentioned her married life with James (even one evening quite graphically), and realized that perhaps the Jedi as a group were not as welded to the New Oath as many of them wished people to think.

The evening of the second day after Harry woke up, Yoda, with the help of Master Zeltesh had powered up the ships Hypercom transmitter. The damage to the ship had forced them to route the power from the two Consular class ships in the hanger bay, but as they would have to use the two smaller ships generators to power the _Explorer_ 's engines once the control systems were repaired, that was time well spent.

Not, admittedly, that Yoda had been much help in that effort. He knew how to use technology, not how to jury rig, repair, or even, it was rumored, be nice to it. Anyone who had watched him move around the hologram device, muttering and smacking it with his gimer stick would have instantly agreed with that last statement.

Now he sat in the captain's chair, staring into the holographic transceiver at Master Mace Windu and the other Masters of the High Council.

Without preamble Yoda began to describe the attack on the _Explorer_ and the result of it, listing the dead as well as what the Bando Gora had been after. He had decided not to tell them everything that was going on here with Lily and her son, who had not met yet, though he was already forming a good image of the youth. Not because he didn't trust them, but because he didn't know if they would realize the need to keep it to themselves.

And he also could not predict how they would all react. Yoda got on with Master Windu very well, and he respected the younger man both as a swordsman and as a Jedi Master, but there was a certain inflexibility in his manner. That had served Mace well over the years, but it would not help them in this situation.

Master Evan Piell, a Lanik who was almost as short as Yoda, shook his head. "I am not alone in thinking this but I shall voice it. The Bando Gora attacking us outright like this is a very bad sign. I would have thought the last time they clashed with the Order would have sent these madmen scurrying into their rat holes, but if it has not, they must be stronger than any reports we have seen indicated. We will need to strike at them quickly, if we can find them at all."

"Assigned Master Tholme to that task, I already have. Find them he will." Yoda said shaking his head. "Remain here I must, getting the children over this shock Master Saa and I will."

"Of course Master Yoda," Mace said before looking over at one of the other Masters. "But still, this attack and the disaster which fell upon _Chu'unthor_ decades ago is proof positive that the counsel of First Knowledge is correct in their desire to mothballs such ships entirely. All learning should be done here at the Temple itself, even if that makes journeys to the Outer Rim longer and less certain."

"No," Yoda said simply shaking his head, and more than one Master there found themselves surprised at Yoda and Master Windu disagreeing on something. Mace also looked surprised for a moment before his eyes narrowed slightly and he sat back looking at the aged Grand Master's hologram. "Pointed out to me it has been, missing many youngling's we have been because of a lack of recruitment trips. Defenses these ships must have yes, but too important are their missions to do away with them."

"You're speaking about the recent flow of casualties we've been facing in the past 15 or so years," said Master Ranicisis, an elderly Thisspiasian with green skin a shade lighter than Yoda's and a beard longer than Yoda was tall **.** He was the third oldest member of the High Council by a significant margin but age alone did not matter much amongst Jedi. Yoda was Grand Master because he was not only the most powerful, but the most learned and wise, not just because he was old (though that did help).

"Yes. If convince the Council of First Knowledge we cannot that limit we must the number of initiates sent to the Agricorps, bring in more initiates initially we will have to."

"We could also make it mandatory for Masters to take padawans," Master Mace said thoughtfully, nodding his head at the idea. He too believed that the Agricorps and the cutoff age for when students were sent to it unless they were chosen as a padawan by a Jedi was a concept that needed to be replaced.

But he also believed that the training vessels allowed for far too much insular education. Without continually connecting to the rest of the Jedi Order and the Council of First Knowledge differences between the clan in question and the Order could arise which might lead to later friction and conflict.

"How damaged is the _Explorer_?" asked one of the other Masters, pulling them all away from that side topic back to the reality. "And who do you wish to send to aid Master Tholme?"

"Three teams I feel will be needed for this task. Master Tholme, lead the search team he will, able to pick its members he will be. Master Dooku, the land assault team will lead. Closure, Dooku needs."

Yoda sighed, his ears slumping as he thought of his former padawan, one of his best students and one of the three best swordsmen in the Order. He had begun to chaff under the Order's connection to the Senate of late because of a series of missions where the Jedi Order took losses because they were not given all the facts going in or worse had been set up to take the fall like the Mandalore Debacle.

The loss of his own most recent Padawan, who had somehow tricked her way onto the mission against the Bando Gora several months back, had only exacerbated that belief. She had been one of over a dozen Jedi who had died on that mission because the Bando Gora had been ready for them. The death worshipping cult's drug-induced ability to ignore pain, speed up their bodies and numbers had surprised the Jedi sent on that mission and the mission, despite ostensibly being successful had cost the Order badly

"Hmm… I am uncertain I would agree, but cannot say who would be better to lead the land combatants that could be spared." Master Windu's lips twisted wryly. Since Yoda was not on Coruscant at present he, as Master of the Order, could not also take his leave, not just as a matter of appearance but as a matter of organization. "And the third team?"

"Master Tiin," Yoda said, looking at that Master, a middle-aged Ikotchi master with massive shoulders hidden under his robes and deep-set eyes. "Available are you to provide your expertise?"

"Of course," said the horned Ikotchi promptly. He was one of the top five pilots in the Order, and was a natural choice for that aspect of this mission, especially if they expected to face real resistance in space.

"Leaders, choose their own teams they will be able to, assemble at Denon you will. A staging ground it will be." Yoda said nodding his head gratefully to the other Master.

Tiin nodded prompt understanding. "Master Tholme will find them, and then he will call my team and Dooku's in to help smash them. A simple and excellent plan, though we might wish to consider liaising with the nearest known navies. The Order lacks capital ships after all, and we can't expect to be able to call on the Republic Navy that far away from the Core Worlds. They have few enough ships there, they have no presence beyond a few Colony sector Ord systems."

There were some wry smiles around the room at that. Master Tiin was one who believed in smashing through problems, he was a guardian through and through, who very much preferred the brute force approach to any solution, but there was nothing wrong with his mind. Especially when given a clear cut strategic problem.

"Will Master Fay stay there, you think? Or should we send a new Master and a few knights to take over the education of the children aboard the _Explorer_?" asked Master Plo Koon. One of the most recent elevations to the High Council, the Kel Dor master was often a voice of common sense among them, and a firm friend of Micah Giiett.

"Stay here I will, but Fay, stay here also will she, and Micah. Master Saa, take over the position of Master here she will, missed teaching she has as Sector Jedi. Another Jedi, sent to the Ryloth Sector, will need to be."

There was some staring at that. Yoda wanting to stay was obvious, but the fact that Master Giiett would stay as well was interesting, as was Fay's presence, far more so. She was known to be moved only through the Force, and many there wondered if maybe the Force was telling her to stay aboard ship for a reason, one they were not privy to this far distant.

They all looked at Yoda, but could read nothing in his wrinkled expression, nothing except certainty, which was telling in itself. After a few moments Mace nodded. "Very well, we will send three of the younger knights who have expressed interest in teaching to join Knight Brandon and Tule. They will help take over the training as much as they can, but that will need to wait a few weeks at best. I have a few in mind, but they are out on assignment at present."

"Trust in your judgement I will." Yoda said, staring into Mace's eyes, so much so that it almost felt as if Yoda was present on Coruscant rather than on the _Explorer_ thousands of lightyears distant.

After another pregnant pause Mace nodded once more before leaning back, steepling his fingers in his lap. "And what else do you have planned in the short term Master Yoda?"

"Move the _Explorer_ to Ord Madrast we will," Yoda said firmly. "New shielding this ships must have, new armor installed, repairs made. Master Zeltesh will oversee the repairs when we get there."

Ord, or ordinance/regional depot systems, had been systems designated as naval bases thousands of years ago during the expansion era, and the shortened version had stuck since. Highly industrialized and with massive defenses and orbital platforms, the mostly human planets tended to be centers of industry for the sectors they were in even now, when the Republic Navy was but a fraction of what it had once been and no longer kept patrols out beyond the Colony Region.

"Rebuilding and repairing that ship will tell us if commissioning new ones is a viable option," said one of the other Masters nodding his head. "If they're too expensive, we will have to look at other options. Our budget from the Senate isn't unlimited, after all, and the Agricorps can only bring in so much. I agree that our educational program needs to be revamped given the losses in recent years, but your idea of more training vessels might not be the solutions."

Yoda nodded agreeably at that, and they all began to speak of issues elsewhere for a few moments as well as sharing names for the strike forces to be assembled and sent after the Bando Gora. Eventually the Masters excused themselves, one after another to go about their own tasks. Soon only Mace was left, and he watched Yoda calmly, his fingers still steepled in his lap. "You are hiding something."

"Yes," Yoda replied with a nod knowing it would do no good to even try to prevaricate, nor was it in his nature.

"Something that will change the Order?"

"Yes."

Mace nodded slowly, his eyes dark as he stared at Yoda's hologram. "You know my power is to see shatterpoints. I can sense one here. Not between you and I, but this information you hide, it has become one for the Order itself. It mars the Order, adds an imperfection to the Order as a whole. Are you certain it is worth that risk?"

"Yes," Yoda said for a third time. "Certain I am."

Then he chuckled, shaking his head as his mind brought up an analogy Windu would understand. "Think you only purity is strong? The steel of a ship's armor, not pure steel it is. Impurities the metallurgists add to the mix, strength and flexibility added to the steel thus. Imperfections, make the whole stronger they can."

Mace slowly nodded, thinking hard and Yoda went on. "Felt it we all did, changed the Force has. Reason I now know. Harness the change we must. Ancient knowledge long lost found it has, studied and taught in a controlled environment it must be."

That last was a mix of lie and truth, but it would be the party line for a while as Yoda watched Lily and Harry in action, watched how the other younglings learned from her, what they could do. But having met Harry and felt him out, Yoda had become more convinced by this course of action.

Mace's eyes widened, and he nodded far more seriously, understanding not only what Yoda had found but that he was going to use the _Explorer_ and its training clan as a test bed for this new knowledge, which was quite smart after all. There was also no doubt that change was of the Light to any Jedi, even now they could remember the initial shock of the feeling and anything that could harness that power for the Order was worth the risk of insular teaching.

"I understand. But you will tell me more about it when you can?" he asked, rather ruefully. "I must admit that my curiosity seems to be getting the better of me here."

"We'll speak of it in person yes," Yoda said. "This attack, coincidental it might appear, but…" Yoda shrugged. "Silent on that matter the Force is. Hint of it being otherwise, there is not, but even so…"

"Coincidence is often not coincidence," Mace said with a nod and a small frown. "The fact that you have discovered this and that the _Explorer_ was attacked at the same time is too coincidental. Perhaps the Bando Gora have found a Force user willing to work with them, or use them. Or perhaps the Night Sisters have begun to branch out away from Dathomir. Nonetheless, I will see you when you return Master Yoda."

Yoda nodded and without another word cut the communication. Leaning back he closed his eyes, meditating as he wondered what Harry's presence would bring.

 **OOOOOOO**

Four days after Harry and Aayla woke up the training ship had been repaired enough to get underway. Its thin anti-asteroid shield, which protected its surface from small particles in space, dust and other things, was online and its hyperdrives powered up. The Jedi still had to trust their own abilities to calculate the hyperspace jumps, but Micah was up to that task.

There was a cheer as they entered hyperspace from the younglings, and another cheer when they came back out, at their destination. Yoda sent a transmission ahead of them, and the ship was quickly allotted into a slip in one of the busy systems series of orbital stations.

The rest of that day, Yoda, Tholme, Zertesh and the two knights from Yoda's original ship were busy talking to the locals about the work the _Explorer_ needed done, following a few inspectors around as they looked over the damage. It wasn't as if the Jedi were untrusting, but someone had to have inputted the virus into the _Explorer_. The only way someone could have done that would've been to get physical access to the ship, which meant one of the supply drops or quick inspections.

Lily also followed a few of them around, unseen by any non-Force user, the ultimate spy, which made Tholme wish rather wistfully that he could convince her to leave Harry here and join his hunt for the Bando Gora. However he was enough of a pragmatist to know an impossible battle when he saw one, and that was the very definition of an impossible battle.

She reported them not doing anything suspicious, but warned that she wasn't the most knowledgeable about computers, so might not have spotted anything. Laitha, who had taken over the computers, reported nothing untoward, and work quickly began on the ship's repairs. While this was going on, Yoda, Saa, Micah and Lily took over training the children leaving the Knights and Master Zeltesh to watch over the repairs and upgrades.

It would take over four months for the ship to be fully upgraded. They would have to rip out many of the old shielding systems and replace them with larger versions, which of course meant they would need to enlarge the areas of the ship around the generators.

The ship would also be given to quad laser turrets, but that was all the _Explorer_ could be given due to Republic regulations on ships its size. They would have to go to the Senate itself to get an exception for more dangerous weaponry, even on a Jedi ship. This left the ship rather vulnerable in terms of firepower given its size but its defenses, its shields, could be as strong as they wished.

Harry was able to rejoin that first day of full class lessons, and Lily spent some of her attention watching him closely, making certain he was fully recovered. When she determined he was, Lily called him into the meditation room after the exercises had finished for the day. "Harry, do you remember me saying that we were going to start training on more offenses spells?"

"Yes," Harry replied grimly. "I don't like killing, I don't like that feeling, but I think I let myself and my friends down because I couldn't really do a lot. I mean even with what I already knew. What if I had tried to use that Incendio spell, even that would've been more of a help than the stupid stupefy!" He and Aayla had talked about the fight while in his mind, and had helped each other get over it while also coming up with ways to use Harry's power better the next time.

"Unless you could direct the fire it wouldn't have been much help considering you'd have to be careful not to hit Quinlan with it." Lily shook her head and went on firmly. "It's a good thought Harry, but you weren't the one who failed there, I was. I should've been pushing for you to add more attack type spells to your repertoire, tried to expand your ideas into combat the moment we realized that these Jedi were more combat-oriented than most wizards back home have to be."

"I should've realized that," Harry said just as firmly glaring up at his mother almost challengingly. "I was the one that was so interested in their light-swords right?"

The two emerald eyed individuals locked eyes with one another, before laughing in unison, shaking their heads. "All right Harry, how about we just agree to each take an equal share of the guilt and move on?"

Harry nodded, and Lily began. "Okay, so for tonight, we'll run through the shield spells I know of including the Protego, which you've already been working with. I'll describe their abilities, then you'll see if you can re-create them. We'll concentrate on this for a week or so, until you can cast the spell without any lag time and hold it for at least five minutes. Then we'll move on to a few offenses spells. I hope to use at least a week on each concept in turn, so that you learn not only how to use the spells, but possibly modify them. I'm going to tell you their effects and I'm going to leave the rest to you understand?"

"You don't want me to get caught up into the same sort of mental mindset as the wizards, just doing one thing the same way over and over," Harry guessed.

"That's it exactly. Now show me your first shield spell," Lily commanded, crossing her arms and sitting in midair as she watched her son begin.

Those lessons would be the most mentally and physically taxing Harry had run into yet, but they would also be the most rewarding outside of Master Yoda's classes on meditation and balance. He soaked up the spell concepts like a sponge, coming up with his own variants quickly, sometimes far better than the original.

For instance, Harry was able to mix the abilities of two different shielding spells, the Protego, and the Armoria. Armoria was a full body spell that covered one's body, and was great against physical attacks, such as from non-magical weapons or conjured up creatures. But it couldn't stop energy-based spells.

The Protego spell was simply a shield of magic that deflected other magic. But its strength varied wildly and it didn't do very well against physical spells. It could be beaten by anything moving too quickly, and could be overcome by a powerful enough spell.

Harry took both of those spells and merged them into one shield that he could actually manipulate! It was the most amazing thing to watch Harry actually move the shield around into different formations, able to cover both himself and Aayla at the same time. Aayla and Alecto joined this class along with Wulo, Zule and two of the other, slightly older students, who Yoda had selected to join them.

Eventually all the students were able to learn Harry's version, which made Lily absolutely giddy with delight, and the other Jedi ecstatic. Only Harry however could do so without gestures or words at first, though Aayla was able to do so for very short amounts of time by the time that first month ended.

During that time the teachers noticed that there was a distinct cross-leveling flow going on between Aayla and Harry. Aayla's ability to learn 'spells' grew by leaps and bounds, while Harry's ability to use Jedi techniques did the same. He began to be able to use some Force Precognition: reaching out to it to feel other people's intent and sense answers to questions behind closed doors. Both children swore up and down to Lily, Master Fay and Yoda separately and together that they weren't sharing thoughts about those things all the time, just some of the time. It just was happening that was all. While interesting, that told no one anything new about the bond.

Of course, the two of them did spend an inordinate amount of time talking mind to mind, something all of the adults noticed and couldn't come up with an argument to stop. Harry understood eventually he'd have thoughts he wouldn't want to share, but that was in the future. Aayla didn't even understand that, and many times after lights out the two of them spent time in one another's minds going over the day's training and helping one another along. Since this made them both perform better in class, and both went out of their way to help the other younglings, the adults decided to let it go for now so long as they didn't become dependent on one another too much.

At one point as part of an experiment and with the children's permission master Fay took Aayla down to the planet ostensibly on a shopping trip. Harry was still able to pinpoint her exact place, though only through triangulation of course at this distance. Using the computer they generated the lines from where Harry pointed from where they started, to the second point, which was on the actual space station rather than inside the ship, about two kilometers away from his starting point.

Aayla in turn could do the same to Harry, and could feel his emotions wherever he was. In return Harry could not sense Aayla's specific emotions unless they were physically close by one another. This had more to do with the fact Aayla was a natural empath than any limitation of their bond however, a skill that didn't seem to cross over. He however could hear some of her thoughts even when she had been on the planet.

Micah trained all of the students in the first few exercises of lightsaber combat, as well as physical training overall. He was a Sentinel, and knew that far too many Jedi relied solely on their Force given abilities and their lightsabers to get by. Now that he had a chance to actually teach, he wanted to make certain that was not the case with these children.

In the second month of training, he made several discoveries that paid off his efforts rather handsomely. The days training was meant to build up their reflexes and, though they didn't realize it, their Force Precognition. The training room for this was a specially designed room with padded surfaces all around, with several dozen tiny soft balls littering the floor. Each ball had a small repulsor and a tiny computer imbedded under its surface.

After letting the children bounce around the room for a time, Micah calmly gestured with one hand, and the small balls, both those on the floor and in the youngling's hands, floated into the air. "The objective is simple children. While each of you take a turn, these balls will move through the room randomly under my direction. Your objective is to dodge them. Every time you let ten balls hit you in you will have to restart the exercise."

"Do they hurt master?" Wulo asked, placing his hooves down on the spongy floor delicately.

Since he could not roll or leap as easily as the others this really wasn't a fair test for the Chironian, but he still looked game, something that Micah approved of. "These balls do not young one, we might be stern at times but we are not needlessly cruel. In a year however you will graduate from such soft targets to harder ones, then two stinging bolts and from there to ascending levels of both difficulty and danger." Other differences would of course also be added on, noise and other distractions as well as different types of balls or objectives, but that wasn't material at present.

All of the students nodded, since that made perfect sense to them. "Are we allowed to use our own powers Master?" asked another student.

"Reaching out to the Force to predict the balls trajectory is of course allowed, that is indeed one of the objectives of this exercise. But if you mean can you push or otherwise block them, no, then no, you may not."

Micah chuckled, shaking his head as all the students let out 'awws' of disappointment at that, before going on. "You can also catch the balls. After its small sensors feels an impact the ball will fall to the ground, out of the action. I have seen a lot of different strategies in my time, so I would suggest you all pick your own strategy quickly. Now, do I have a volunteer to go first?"

Zule stepped forward, cracking her neck and doing a series of warm up exercises. "Better to get this over with quickly. The rest of you watch and see what happens," She ordered the rest of her friends.

"A wise tactic, volunteering to be a scout." Micah said agreeably, though he also knew the Falleen girl had certain issues with making headstrong decisions. Still, she was one of the most physically inclined of the clan, so this worked out well enough. With another gesture of his hand, the room began to hum, and the balls began to move around randomly.

Standing in the center of the room, Zule began to twist and dodge this way and that, leaping up and around, showing the immense body control that their training had already begun to give the initiates. They looked slow and uncoordinated to any Jedi, but to other children their age it would have looked like they were all training to be professional athletes or something similar.

Despite that, and despite Micah feeling the girl reach out into the Force around her in order to predict the balls' flight, she was struck several times quickly. But then to Micah's amusement she began to catch the balls out of the air as they came towards her, tossing them towards other attacking balls with little flicks of her hand.

"Excellent, well thought out, a good offense and defense at the same time. But how long can you keep it up I wonder?" Micah mused even as his eyes sharpened, watching the girl closely. _Ahh, now isn't that interesting, she is able to use both hands equally…_

Zule lasted another three minutes using that strategy before she was hit for a tenth time, a ball smacking down from directly above her to bounce off her blue hair. She paused, then pouting moved to the rest of the class by the doorway. "Do not worry young one," Micah said kindly, patting her head gently. "You did very well for your first attempt. Few initiates at your level last for more than five minutes."

Indeed, Zule did far better then most of the rest of the class. Wulo, as Micah had predicted, wasn't very good at this exercise, though he was quite quick on his four feet he just didn't have the lateral speed or flexibility to dodge in an enclosed space like this. Alecto seemed to cave slightly under this exercise. his mind unable to process so many moving objects at once and move his body at the same time. On the other hand a young human boy and girl pair did very well, outperforming their slightly older fellows for a time as they seemed to be able to read the ball's movement better.

Halfway through the class, Harry took his turn. Standing in the center he breathed in once, then nodded to Giiett, who started the exercise. The balls moved toward Harry from all directions and his hand quickly flashed out, grabbing a ball and dropping it to his feet before ducking under a second, leaping over a third and rolling along to dodge several more. He kept moving for a time until he was in one of the corners of the room, having been tagged only four times.

Micah had to nod his head at the boy's strategy. Harry was the first to see even in a room like this you could still use the terrain to his advantage. _And even if he isn't as good at the others about relying on the Force to predict his enemies' movements, his reflexes are incredible, as is his hand eye coordination. He will be a deadly lightsaber duelist in time._

A case in point Harry's hands flashed out, one at a time admittedly, catching and dropping balls as they came at him. And now that his back and flanks were somewhat secure, he was able to keep it up for several more minutes. But even if he was fast for his age, there were a few too many balls for him, and they also tried to strike his arms when he stretched out. Every time he overbalanced slightly in order to catch a ball, a ball slipped in, and eventually Harry was struck the tenth time.

"Well done," Micah said, nodding his head to the tousle-haired youth. "You tried to compensate for a weakness in your style and used the lay of the land to your advantage. We still have work to do of course, but very well done." Harry had lasted for nearly seven minutes, by far the longest time for this clan.

Aayla eagerly stood forward. Her light brown eyes locked with Harry's emerald ones for a moment, and Micah knew they were communicating mind to mind even if he couldn't feel it in the Force, his senses not up to that task. Then the Rutian girl grinned, slapping her hand against Harry's and stepping into the center of the room as the rest of the clan cheered.

Laughing lightly at their enthusiasm Micah set the balls moving once more, and immediately it was obvious that Aayla wasn't going to follow Harry's plan of forting up in a corner. Instead she simply **moved**.

Like Zule, Aayla had amazing body control, but her agility and flexibility was even better, having begun training as a 'dancer' before Harry had liberated her. She danced in place, dodging this way and that twisting and ducking before leaping into the air, bouncing off the wall at one point. Then as the hits still piled up, she too reached out with both hands, catching and tossing balls towards other attacking balls as Zule did. Her aim wasn't as good, but Aayla was able to actually catch more balls in the first place than the Falleen initiate.

It was an impressive display, for more than one reason. _Another ambidextrous student, excellent!_

None of the students succeeded in lasting the full ten minutes of course, though several had come close after emulating Harry's strategy. But after the class was over, Micah called both Aayla and Zule over to her. "Tell me young ones, can you write with both hands as well?"

"Yes master," Zule said, since Aayla was still a little out of breath from her last attempt at the exercise. "I sometimes switch hands in class, and I know that Aayla has occasionally."

"Tell me young ones, have you heard about the various lightsaber styles?" Micah gestured down to his belt, where two lightsabers hung. One was a regular sized blade, the other a shoto or short lightsaber, like Master Yoda's lightsaber in length though the hilt was the same size as the other blade. "I think you both have the potential to become Jar'kai users in the future."

Both young girls looked at one another, and Micah went on. "If you like, I can give you some more exercises to perform to help take your ambidexterity to it's maximum potential in preparation for that. I will warn you though, this will be on top of your other lessons. Indeed, I think you should take a few days to think about it, after all, a lightsaber style is a very personal, serious thing for any Jedi aspirant."

After a few days both girls had decided to take Micah up on his offer. By which time he had discovered that Alecto was a natural with any type of gun, and also seemed to have set his mind on the order he would like to join, that of Sentinel. Micha did his best to watch over all three of them on their personal training while also overseeing the clan's physical training as a whole.

During that time, Lily and Yoda also got to know one another, and found in one another an odd friendship. Yoda was that most precious of birds in educational circles, a teacher with vast amounts of experience and a true gift for teaching who had not lost his joy of it. More than once Lily watched Yoda pick out the student who was having the most trouble, or needed a bit of boost to his self-esteem and help him along gently, oftentimes allowing himself to look like a creature of play for the kids, squeaking in overdone shock as he fell backwards during a game of push-me, pull-you, or smiling and chortling along with the children as he subtly helped the youngster use his Force power to send a ball careening faster than the others.

Yoda in turn found Lily an excellent conversationalist, when she wasn't on the other side of a debate anyway. She was intelligent, if far less educated about the galaxy at large and the Republican particular than most her age should be, which of course was understandable. She was outgoing, personable, willing to listen and understand another person's perspective, as well as being an excellent natural teacher. Lily guided the children rather than giving them answers, which was often times the hardest lesson a teacher could learn, especially when it came to the Force. It was all too easy for people to give out answers, to almost force knowledge down the initiate's throats rather than simply guide them to it.

Between the two of them, Saa and Micah, they had the clan caught up to where they should have been had the clan been on Coruscant in all aspects, though this was but the start of their education as Jedi. It would only get tougher from here on, far tougher.

Yoda also sat in on the lessons Lily was giving the advanced students in pure magic. The other students to his great relief and happiness didn't seem to take it badly that they were excluded from those lessons, understanding that that was an age thing and a power requirement that they couldn't match just yet.

He was never able to do much with magic, though his ability to use the Force to move objects grew by leaps and bounds, and he was occasionally able to send out Stupefy spells, conjure up fire and water and even the shield spell. The Light construct, which Harry sometimes experimented with, conjuration, and transfiguration eluded him entirely. Saa could conjure up water, but not fire, and her shields didn't last as long as Yoda's, but she had been able to create her own version of Force Light, an ancient Jedi technique inimical to anything of the Dark Side, from watching Harry test out his Light construct. Micah was somewhere in the middle in terms of his shield, but couldn't conjure up either element for some reason, though his ability to move objects via the Force also grew tremendously.

On the other hand there was Fay who befriended Lily to a degree that surprised both women to a certain degree. Fay was mentally flexible enough to start using much of the offensive magic that Lily was slowly imparting to Harry, the effects of which were beyond astonishing to Yoda. The Bombarda, Rifela, and Harry's abilities to use them and to expand upon the spell's beginning were incredible.

Learning like this and teaching a single clan like this was very different work from his normal routine as Grand Master. That combined with the discussions with Lily made for a very pleasant time for the ancient being. All in all, Yoda was very pleased with his time on the ship, but as all good things must come to an end.

Eventually the ship was repaired, the new Knights assigned to it arrived and Yoda was formally asked to return to Coruscant. He had honestly been gone too long as it was, the Senate had apparently been making noise about wondering why he was spending so much time away from Coruscant where they could not avail themselves of his advice and soothing presence, and had passed on a formal, if polite, demand for his return.

Walking down the hallway with Micah toward the loading ramp where the new knights would be, Yoda grumped quietly. "Hrhrhrm, soothing presence? Noticed such a thing before I have not! Disturbing it is the Senate so irritated by my not being there."

"I don't think they like having any Jedi of your caliber or mine out of sight," Micah said ruefully. He had been asked to return too, though not as strenuously as Yoda. Nor was he looking forward to the confrontation with Master Mace and the rest of the high Council. All of them had to know by now that there was something more going on out here than just the two of them standing in for the dead Masters of the training vessel and wanting to continue its work.

He knew Yoda had implanted some ideas before this, but it was quickly going to be time to show them what they had learned. Thankfully Micah had finally gotten over his own mental hang ups to using the new Force powers, and his shields in particular would be enough to convince the High Council that the training here needed to continue. Harry's presence however would still be kept as secret as possible. Lily alone would be enough to show where all these news skills came from.

Yoda stopped, looking up at the taller Master for a moment. "Think you it is that simple?"

"What else could it be Master?" Micah said with a shrug. "The Senate is the power in the Republic, as corrupt, byzantine and factionalized as it is. Whereas the Jedi Order moves in lockstep, and has for a thousand years. The Senate knows that we are a source of stability, not only to them, but to the Republic as a whole. Naturally they want as many of us where they can see us as possible."

As the other Master said the words lockstep, Yoda was faced with a short Force vision but a very powerful one. It was of a debate somewhere, a debate between hundreds perhaps thousands of Jedi who were wondering whether or not they had should follow the High Councils commands. What specific orders they were talking about Yoda didn't see, only that the vote was going against doing so. But whether or not this was a danger, or a positive the Force was silent on. Filing it away, Yoda began to walk once more toward the loading bay.

The two of them were silent for a few moments, then Micah asked, "How goes the hunt for the Bando Gora?"

"Found several plants, Master Tholme has, hypnotized via drugs to obey orders from the death cultists the individuals were. Two training centers as well. Master Dooku, led assault against both. Information did they gain on several others. A guerrilla war it might become, but all the Masters and knights involved, able to hide their presence in the Force they are."

"It will be a wrench to leave this group," Micah said thoughtfully, changing the subject as they entered the loading bay. "They've all grown leaps and bounds, but what will we do with Harry and Aayla? I think it's obvious that with their bond they will never fit in with the rest of the Order as it is right now. I would love to have Aayla and Zule on Coruscant to train in Jarkai."

"Aayla, join with Quinlan she will when he has become a knight. The bond between them, obvious it was. See no reason to gain say that I do. Remain on Coruscant she will for the minimal time we can get away with. Thankfully, only a few years from being ready for his trials is Vos."

"What about her connection to Harry? And what will we do about him? The Force is telling me he should not be exposed to the rest of the Order just yet."

Yoda sighed faintly. "Master Fay, take Harry as padawan she will, agreed to this long before now she has, a growing connection between her, Harry and Lily there is. The Force, warning me not to allow Harry to spend any time on Coruscant, a danger it is, though uncertain is the type of danger."

"Agreed," Micah said with a nod. "I have meditated hard on this issue myself, and the Force is clear on the matter."

The two of them fell silent then, Yoda leaning on his gimer stick watching as three knights walked up the ramp while Micah simply stood, waiting. In the lead was Knight Toramund, a young Coruscant born human male who often smiled, and was known to have a sense of humor that ran heavily to jokes at the expense of politicians.

Behind him came Knight Shaak Ti, the only other one of the three Yoda had personally met since they had taken their Trials. The Togrutan knight was an excellent choice for this, a calm, open presence, who was able to adjust to surprises and with a highly analytical mind. The last one, a young Muun named Cale, a staunch Consular and a decent engineer. Yoda was uncertain of Cale's inclusion in this group, Muun tended to have trouble when shown new Force powers they could not mathematically explain but as he had told Master Windu, Yoda would trust his judgement.

The three knights bowed as one to Yoda, who harrumphed at them. "Master Yoda, the council has assigned us to take up positions here on the _Explorer_ as teachers. I must say it wasn't my first choice of tasks, but then I began to hear some rumors about this clan being used as a test bed for some rediscovered Force techniques you found." Knight Toramund said, his voice respectful, but his eyes lit up with inquisitiveness.

"Hrhrhrm, truth there is to some of that. Come, introduce you to your charges I will." Yoda said making a note that rumors passed through the Order far more quickly these days than they had been when he was younger. He remained silent as did the five knights following him until they arrived at the main classroom. Opening the door he gestured the youngsters inside, only to watch with a small smile as they stopped in shock, bunching up in the doorway.

The five young Knights all stared at the initiates in front of them changing the colors of objects and conjuring up shields in astonishment as well as the red-haired Force Ghost in the scandalous clothing which seemed to be presiding over it all. Then Knight Shaak Ti stepped forward with a faint smile into the center of the group, reaching down to touch heads and shoulders. "I see we are all going to be students of one sort or another."

"Excellent attitude," Lily murmured smiling down at the only slightly older, at least in physical age, Togrutan woman. "Keep that attitude and we'll all get along well."

Chuckling, Yoda gestured the others forward. "Needless to say, rumors about ancient powers discovered, only the half of the truth they are. Come, fill you in I will on what I may."

 **OOOOOOO**

On Coruscant, Sidious frowned slightly, looking over his notes. Yoda had acceded to the Senate's politely worded request he return, which was all to the good. Of all the Jedi, he and Mace Windu were the two the Sith most wanted to keep an eye on, and that was done better here on Coruscant than elsewhere. _But the damage might already have been done._

It seemed as if the Jedi had indeed found some holocron with ancient teachings on it, and were slowly incorporating it into their training. Odd, and something The Plan had not allowed for, but perhaps it would turn out to be something Sidious could turn to his advantage. With his and his master's attempt to sound out Dooku as a voice of possible dissent among the Jedi stymied for now thanks to his part in the campaign against the Bando Gora keeping him away from their influence, it might be needed.

With Plagueis elsewhere working on the Veil, it fell to Sidious to decide how to go about this, and he mused for a few moments on how to go about it. Alas, none of his contacts within the Order were enough to give him more than rumor at this point, and he could not use them for more without arousing suspicion. That left electronic means, a haphazard approach at best. _Still with Yoda returned here, any such change in the Order's training will of necessity start here as well._

In the next few months he learned much about the new powers rumor circulated this odd training clan was learning, but none of them were enough to worry him. Indeed, most were so miniscule or outright ridiculous that Sidious dismissed them, concentrating instead on the Senate and aggravating the growing factionalism there from the shadows. This state of affairs continued for more than a year, by which time the fact the Jedi had new, unimportant powers had sunk into his psyche so much that neither he nor his master noticed that the electronic spies in the Temple had stopped reporting. After all, the Jedi were still losing members in trickles here and there, so everything was going according to plan. Wasn't it?

 **OOOOOOO**

The next day Micah and Yoda left for Coruscant aboard the newly arrived Consular class ship with two knights who had acted as crew on the ship that brought their three fellows to the _Explorer_. Master Saa took formal control of the _Explorer_ , installing Lily and Fay as her seconds as the initiate's education ramped up to the next level.

Knights Ti and Toramund were given command of the student's physical exercises, though Knight Ti also joined in the classes on meditation and Occlumency. The ability to mold her mind into such an organized format came surprisingly easy to the Togrutan woman though the need to create a defensive layer against outside influences did not. The other knights did not join these new classes as quickly, leery at first and not quite as fast to see the utility of the new learning, but soon got their feet back under them.

None of the three newcomers however were brought in immediately to Harry and his ongoing lessons with his mother, as Yoda had ordered. Lily and, at her insistence, Fay would have final say in who would be allowed to learn about those lessons, and all of the children knew not to talk about them to the newcomers until given permission. Even better, by this point even the youngest initiate had learned how to keep his thoughts from being read without their knowing about it.

Knight Cale, a young bookish Muun began to teach the initiates math and science. Saa continued to teach the history classes, expanding them now to include more Republic history rather than simply the history of the Order. The last two knights joined together with Knight Brandon, who had remained aboard, to start the students on entirely new classes: astronavigation, computer skills and other things of that nature, which would be needed in time when they were older.

All told it was a massive amount of work on the little shoulders of the initiates, the equivalent of a middle school education plus a watered down version of a soldier's calisthenics classes and a monk's mental training on top of that. It was monstrously tough training, made to in part break the students and remold them into Jedi, while also weeding out those who lacked the drive, mental fortitude and basic intelligence to become Jedi. It also served to make certain the teachers knew of any students who might become bullies or worse later on.

Thanks to the meditation aspects and Lily's training with the students in Occlumency, the initiates here were able to handle it somewhat easier than most would have, but not so much they could slack off. Free time slowly disappeared as the teachers added more training, but the students responded with enthusiasm for the most part, and refused to be cowed in a way that brought faint smiles to the new teachers' faces.

The now repaired _Explorer_ once again began to jump from system to system, stopping for longer periods of time only occasionally. If the ship needed new supplies the students would be allowed out on a trip to the planet's capital or, if the planet had such things, historical sites under supervision while at least one of the masters and two of the knights remained to personally resupply the ship. Occasionally local government representatives would wish to pay their respects, but Master Saa always went to them never allowing anyone who was not a Jedi onto the ship. The Bando Gora's ability to implant the virus via a brainwashed dock worker had nearly cost them the younglings' lives and would never be repeated.

But for all their training and their mental acumen, the kids were still kids, with all that entailed. Knowing this might have been one of the reasons why the council of First Knowledge was so set on shutting down the training vessels, but it certainly made for some interesting times…

 **OOOOOOO**

Leaning close Harry had to yell into Alecto's ear to be heard over the roar of the crowd. "What the heck are those things?"

The things in question were four footed animals which Harry had first thought of as this planet's version of horses. That thought lasted right up until the creatures turned, and Harry could see their wide, fang filled maws. They were being ridden by the locals, a species of nonhuman aliens who had grayish skin, wide hands and heads that looked like those of a hammerhead shark. They were called the Veltoshi, and were almost as aggressive as their appearance suggested, but not at all expansionist according to Master Saa, because their rate of birth was extremely low in comparison to the galactic norm. She'd had to explain that quite a bit, but in the end the initiates understood.

"I think they are called Vecktri or something like that," Alecto replied, a smile on his face as they watched the race commence. The two boys joined in the cheering, neither of them noticing that Aayla and Zule had left them behind along with their minder, Knight Cale. The two girls had noticed something far more interesting than sweaty creatures and their even sweatier riders.

Lily, who had followed her son as she normally did, had noticed, but since Knight Ti was still within sight thought nothing of it. The Togrutan knight was at that very moment talking to young Wulo, who was looking mildly rebellious. Keeping one eye on her son Lily floated over and through the crowd, and Ti looked up with a faint smile, shaking her head as she whispered. "He wants to join the race, apparently such things among his people were everyday events."

"I don't doubt it," Lily said, reaching down to pat the Chironian's head gently between his velvety horns. "However, I doubt they let foreigners join in here, and besides, those animals look like they'd be able to bite you and keep on running, which you can't do Wulo. Maybe tonight we can come back and you can race along the route by yourself?"

"It's not the same," Wulo muttered, shaking his head. His people were very herd oriented, and he had begun to subconsciously miss a lot of the interaction the herd had which simply had no equivalent among the initiate clan. Physical exercises were fine and dandy, but the ship just didn't have anything like the rolling plains of his homeworld.

Lily shook her head and let the young knight to tend to him, floating into the air to make certain the rest of the clan was in sight. Aayla and a few of the other girls had moved to look into a clothing store, not interested in the actual clothing so much as the colors from what little of their conversation carried to her. Others had found what looked like a local pet store with Knight Toramund, but thankfully the locals had very little in the cute and fun-looking department. A group of seven or so had gathered around Alecto and Harry, watching the race avidly.

 _Jedi in training but still children,_ Lily thought, amused. She frowned then as Aayla looked around sharply, moving away from the rest of the group. Harry also looked up, having felt something through their bond, and as she watched he took Alecto's elbow and gestured the two of them back through the crowd away from the race.

Moving down she hovered over the boys, looking at her son. "What did Aayla sense Harry?"

"She doesn't know, anticipation, anger, a desire for money, nothing major, but the anticipation spiked suddenly, it grabbed her attention." Harry replied.

Aayla had recently begun training in her latent empathic ability. Beyond the ability to block out the feelings of those around her, Shaak had been training the Rutian Twi'lek in how to be on the lookout for specific feelings, even while surrounded by a crowd. This was the first time they had been off the ship since that training had begun, but it had already borne fruit.

"Okay, so it might be nothing, but it might be something?" Lily guessed.

Then she gasped as suddenly a hover car, which looked like the sci-fi equivalent of a limo, roared around the edge of the small side street they were on. Ahead of them a young local boy and his parents had been walking, with Aayla walking up behind them. Two more local men had rushed out of an alleyway between Aayla and the family, heading right towards the boy. They barreled the parents out of the way and continued on towards the limo, which slid to a stop right in front of them as the passerby began to notice something was going on and roar or shriek in response.

Alecto however didn't respond by screaming. As Harry and Aayla both reached out with the Force to grab the limo and hold it in place, he grabbed a blaster from an onlooker's belt, pushing the setting button onto stun quickly. Going down on one knee he took two shots and the would-be kidnappers went down in a heap.

While the parents grabbed their child and tried to run away, another local pushed out of the limo, pulling out a large blaster rifle. But before he could fire it, Aayla had wrenched it out of his hand, and Knight Toramund, the closest of the minders, had arrived. A lightsaber strike to the front of the limo and his green blade came up pointing straight between the local's central set of eyes, humming gently.

"Surrender?" He suggested, to which the local growled, but put his hands up.

While Alecto, Aayla and the nearby initiates gathered around Aayla, she hurried in Harry's direction, a wide beaming smile on her face as Lily shook her head. _I do hope this isn't a theme._

There were other moments, some humorous…

 **OOOOOOO**

Five months after Aayla and the others had helped to stop that attempted kidnapping, the _Explorer_ found itself orbiting a planet which had its capital city located on a large plain. This finally gave Wulo enough room to roam and a few of the other initiates went with him, while Shaak Ti and Master Saa took the rest on a nature walk to a nearby forest. They wanted to teach the children about different types of terrain, how to sense different animal types through the Force, and other things.

One moment all was well, then the two women realized that Zule was missing along with Harry. They were just about to look around for them when they heard a loud bark through the trees Aayla could be heard laughing as she stared at something out of their sight through the trees, which caused both women to slow down slightly, if only to show the proper Jedi gravitas when they arrived on the scene.

As they arrived, they found Zule sitting on top of a giant dog-like creature with the head of a reptile but the body of a dog save for its claws, which looked more feline than anything while Harry stood next to it beaming. Seeing the two minders, she smiled happily, wrapping her arms around the animal's neck, which let a purr-growl that reverberated around the forest clearing. "It followed me home Master Saa, can I keep it?"

Lily realized Zule must have started to secrete the pheromones her race was known for. It wouldn't matter much to the knights or initiates given their mental discipline, but it had been enough to somewhat domesticate the wild beast in front of them.

While Shaak Ti simply shook her head in surprise, Master Saa replied promptly, seeing no reason to change the response they had worked on for if the initiates ever tried to smuggle an animal aboard the training vessel. Indeed, their arguments would work far better against such a beast as this rather than the small cuddly creatures they had been worried about. "I'm afraid not dear. Think about how much food it would take to feed such a large animal, how much space it would need. Not to mention how hard it would be to potty train him."

That caused the young girl to blanch, but Harry, his emerald eyes gleaming with delight was about to speak up when Alecto clamped a hand over his mouth. "No," he ordered, to which his human friend pouted as Lily laughed in the background.

Of course such moments were not just found while on field trips…

 **OOOOOOO**

Shaak Ti smiled as she finished drying off Aayla's lekku while all around them the girls were finishing up their designated bathing time. The ship had a limited water supply for such things, but since the boys had voted to use the sonic showers alone, the girls were able to use it all for themselves, and that day's physical exercises had been tough for them all. "I think it's time to get you started on wearing a training bra Aayla."

The blue skinned girl had closed her eyes in bliss as the older woman had carefully dried her lekku. As a Togrutan, Shaak Ti knew how sensitive they could be, and her gentle touch coupled with Aayla's exhaustion had almost made the girl fall asleep. Now she opened her eyes, looking up at the tall red-skinned knight. "Training bra?"

Lily laughed, gesturing Zule to hold up one of hers. "They will help your body from becoming too sore as you continue to grow up luv."

Blinking Aayla looked between the two adults and the object her friend was holding. Then her hands rose to touch her budding chest and she grinned standing up abruptly and rushing out clad only in her pants into the training room where the boys were still cleaning up after the class. "Look Harry, I've got boobies!"

"GAH!" Harry howled, blushing brightly and turning away along with the other boys old enough to have an inkling that girls were interesting as Shaak groaned.

Lily pursed her lips in an attempt to keep a laugh from escaping while Zule nodded sagely. "She seems rather proud of them, good for her!"

Some moments however were sad. At one point the _Explorer_ went into lockdown as the masters and knights left the ship to help the planet they were orbiting over with a plague. Since it targeted young people with their undeveloped immune systems none of them were willing to risk the children in it. The children, with only Master Zeltesh and Lily left aboard, watched a lot of the local news, and began to realize that being a Jedi wasn't all fun or even all action. Sometimes it was sad and deadly.

But as should be expected, the training both in the new Force techniques (Lily had finally caved and begun to use the local terminology) and the Jedi's own training was the center of the initiate's lives. It took over everything, with the classes becoming more intensive on as the months passed, changing the initiates from young children into Jedi trainees in truth, both body and mind. And on top of that, Harry had his ongoing training with his mother, which were always rewarding.

Sometimes the techniques Harry came up with were simply better than anything Lily had run into back on Earth. A case in point occurred one evening when he asked, "I wonder why there aren't any spells which allow you to take control of the elements? I mean there are spells that summon up fire and water, but nothing that lets you control the element you conjure up except in a very simple, point it in the right direction, sort of way."

Lily thought for a few moments, then shrugged her shoulders. "It would come down to your ability to control the spell itself I expect. There were a few Dark spells based on creating a Dark magic infused fire, and they relied on total control of the fire or else it would get out of control and burn the user just as willingly as the victim."

She went on much more seriously looking down at Harry. "But Harry, burning someone alive is a horrible way to kill someone, it's incredibly painful and very dangerous."

Harry thought for a moment then shuddered as he realized what that would feel like. "Right, so not fire. But what about air?"

"Hmm, there are a lot of spells whose effect makes it seem as you're controlling the wind, making things float, summoning objects to you pushing them away. And the Jedi seem able to do some of the same things… wind could be the underlying element." Lily mused. "Yes Harry, that certainly sounds possible."

From that moment Harry decided to devote his time to learning how to move wind as he wanted to, into an actual attack rather than to push or pull a solid object.

For a few days he made no progress, but then Aayla got involved. "You're concentrating too hard with these," she said poking him right above the eyes gently for a moment. "Close them."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, somewhat irritated. This was hard darn it!

"You don't see the air silly!" Aayla said with a grin. "You feel it on your skin, smell it through your nose, and with humans, sense it with those little disgusting hairs you have all over your body.'

"I don't," Harry said automatically to which Aayla shuddered in theatrical relief. Hair was an amusing subject with Aayla. She thought hair on top of your head was interesting and fun to work with, which had become something of a bonding thing between the girls of the clan. But she didn't like the little hairs on people's bodies elsewhere. She found them gross to look at.

Harry had already determined that he wouldn't allow himself to grow any, even if he had to will that into occurring somehow.

"You know Harry she's right," Lily mused. "And possibly we're starting this from the wrong end of the wand as it were. Maybe we should start with the air already moving, and let you try to manipulate that instead of having to conjure up a wind of your own."

They asked Master Saa for help with that, and she agreed, coming by later the next day. Concentrating for a few moments, she began to move the air of the room they were in slowly in a circle around them, enough to ruffle their hair. Or at least the mortal's hair, Lily's stayed right where it was. Force powers like that couldn't work on her for some reason.

Aayla gave Harry's hand one brief squeeze, then let it go watching intently, with both her growing Force senses and her normal ones.

For his part Harry closed his eyes, feeling the wind on his skin, remembering where the target was, imagining the effect he wanted to create. Then he opened his hand and thrust it out quickly towards the target opening his eyes as he did. From his hand came a sharp shrieking sort of sound as they air around it suddenly sped up to incredible speed, Lancing forward to crash into the target with devastating force.

"Interesting," Saa said dryly as the target collapsed cut straight through in several sections. "Very dangerous too. I believe that should join the other spells you shouldn't share with anyone you don't trust Harry."

 _On the other hand, it is one that Masters like myself could replicate now that we know it was possible._ Frowning lightly, Saa let the Force behind the wind still whipping around them in the room died down, before gesturing with her hand as Harry had. The target was now destroyed, exploding outwards. "Not as concentrated as yours was but still quite devastating."

Aayla quickly learned how to use air magic like that as well, and the two of them gleefully continued on, using air to deflect physical assaults, creating a miniature storm in the room to gather up dust which had been spread around it just for that purpose. Aayla also learned the Incendio spell as well as several other small-scale spells. The Masters were a little leery about a few of them, but Harry insisted that she learned them, and after extracting a promise from her not to use them except entire cases of emergency, Aayla was allowed to learn a few more attack spells. Harry's version, not the original ones. The original ones were too specific, Harry preferred to create his own, which was what Lily had been hoping for all along.

But if the learning of attack spells was going reasonably well, the experiments with runes certainly got off on the wrong track immediately.

Hearing the door open Lily looked up from where she was leaning over Harry's shoulder, reading text along with him as part of their ongoing education in this universe, while nearby the other children were hard at work on their own homework. It was a quiet industrious classroom, despite not actually be a classroom at the moment, rather the free time central living area for the children.

In the doorway Master Fay smiled as all the children looked up at her waving or smiling intern, before gesturing Lily to follow her. Lily patted Harry on the head just once, and he looked up smiling before going back to his work as she turned away. Outside in the corridor, fay waited for her before gesturing down the hallway. "I have a granite slab like the one you instructed us to get, as well as several other materials. Do you think we can start working on seeing if runes actually work here now?"

"Certainly," Lily replied with a smile, moving to follow the other woman to an adjacent room. It had been devoted to workstations for the creating lightsabers according to a few of the others Jedi, but with only a single clan rather the four that could have fit on the training vessel, and with none of the initiates being of an age for their lightsaber training to even begin, it had been repurposed.

Lily's ghostly form settled into a chair opposite Fay across from the granite slab, and Lily began to instruct Fay in a precautionary tale she had been told as a student. How you could never connect to runes together until you were certain what they would do was what you wanted, how never to use multiple languages in a single system, and to always be careful when experimenting. "More spell researchers and runesmiths die because of a simple lack of precaution than any other reason."

"Understood." Fay said crisply. "Show me what to do."

"This first test will be of a simple glow array." Lily instructed. "It should turn the entire granite piece into a large lightbulb."

With that they began to work on carving out a few simple runes into the stone. Of course this wasn't the first time Fay had worked on runes, Lily had been instructing her on them for weeks now with the use of a sandbox. Because of this her hand was steady as she worked, and only twice did Lily have to correct her when she was going to make a line of the rune wrong in some small fashion.

Fay did everything right under Lily's watchful gaze, though it took a while, and by the time she was finished, Harry had finished his lessons, joining them with Master Saa along with a few other interested students. Even Toramund and Shaak Ti, the first two of the new teachers to be cleared for learning about the runes, which was a level below knowing about all of Harry's abilities, were there.

"What's this supposed to do Mistress Lily?" asked Knight Ti, gesturing to the runic array on the slab of Granite as Fay finished the last rune, carefully carving a small curve at the end of the last line.

"It's supposed to make the granite glow like a light, but is supposed to run on the Force itself rather than electricity." Lily reiterated, before pointing at each part of the array in turn.

There were some smiles at that idea, while Saa and the other Jedi leaned forward intently. This would be a major game changer, if they in fact could learn to harness the power of the Force, it would be an incredible boon to the Order as a whole in many ways.

Even so Saa narrowed her eyes. Runes had always struck her as highly suspect, making her remember some tales about certain Sith Lords and their abilities to carve the Force into objects, thus strengthening them tremendously. She and Yoda had talked about it before the Grand Master had been forced to return to Coruscant, and despite that worry had decided to let Lily and Fay continue their experiments. The Light Construct, which Harry and Lily called the Patronum Defender, still blazed in her mind that these two represented a force for Light rather than the Dark, even more so now given Saa's own recreation of a similar technique.

"I think I'm done," Fay said, stepping back from the table to allow Lily to hover over it closer. She could have course even passed through Fay's body to do so, but feeling the Force Ghost move through you like that was odd and not wholly pleasant.

Lily worked down the array one Rune at a time, until finally she nodded. "It's good to go. Now all you need to do is to push a bit of your Force power into it to activate the array using this rune here," She said, tapping one of the larger runes in the array. "Once you jumpstart it, the array should automatically begin pulling the Force from the universe around us instead, but you have to start things off."

Fay nodded, pressing one finger against the activation rune, then began to push a bit of her Force power into it. She backed away slightly as the runes glowed, the runes themselves glowing slightly, a yellow color almost. Then the entire granite slab began to glow a very pretty mixed gold and orange color, like a sunset almost.

Then the slab of rock began to glow brighter, and brighter, and brighter until people were shielding their eyes.

"That shouldn't be happening!" Lily said "Harry!"

Saa and the two knights however had already reacted, flinging up their hands protective shields forming around everyone between them and the granite slab. The slab exploded the second later, the light going out abruptly as it did, though that wasn't nearly as important as the shards of rock that zoomed around the room like shrapnel. Dozens impacted the shields of the Jedi, bounding off or dropping to the floor, all their momentum taken from them, and the children all breathed a sigh of relief, thanking the knights profusely for their quick reaction.

Several dozen also zoomed through Lily's spectral form to no effect, and she sighed faintly shaking her head. "Okay, that shouldn't have happened. I used that very same runic array when I was 14. It was one of our first projects and I don't remember anyone blowing up like that. It's specifically used because you **can't** blow things up even if you mess up a few of the runes or put them in the wrong order."

"I felt the Force pour into the slab," Fay said thoughtfully. "It almost seemed to condense the Force too, though I'm uncertain of that…"

"That's it!" Lily said, smacking her for head with one of her hands. "Of course! At home, gathering the magic is often difficult depending on where you are, but there's so much Force in this universe that it's taking in too much. I should have realized that would be the case! We'll have to figure out how to put a limiter into even the least power intensive array."

That was but the first misadventure Fay and Lily had with runes. When Fay tried to create a Notice-Me-Not array like those that covered the magical lands back on Earth, she forgot where she put it. Only Lily being able to actually take her hand and move it towards the slab of steel Fay had used that time allowed her to find it once more and cross out one of the runes to cancel the array. An expansion array placed on a small maintenance closet got the both of them lost for an entire day. The same didn't happen to the expansion charm oddly enough, but there were a few things the expansion runic array could do that the charm could not, so they kept at it.

It took months of experimentation, but finally Lily and Fay were able to create an actual working array, with limitations built into it to limit the amount of force it could siphon in. From there, Fay dove into further experimentation with a will, using Fay's yacht, the _Windblown_ , as a test bed for several of them. Master Saa also joined them at this point, eager to learn this new, extremely advanced and esoteric type of Force ability.

Harry surprisingly wasn't much help in this, being slow to learn the runic scripts himself. He instead concentrated on actual Force manipulation, and enhancing his direct combat abilities.

 **OOOOOOO**

A little over two years passed thus. Harry and Aayla's bond continued, not growing so much from its beginning but always there, always between them. They followed Lily's instructions and began to organize that connection in a way, putting doors on the connection between their minds which but for most of the time those doors were open, serving no real purpose.

However they did indeed help greatly when Harry went through puberty at around thirteen and started to have thoughts about the girls around him, and of course Aayla in particular. But instead of shutting Aayla out, something that Lily had both expected and feared, Harry handled it in a unusual way based off his growing mastery with Occlumency.

Aayla discovered this one evening as the two of them finished discussing a series of math problems they were learning from Knight Cale. Walking back to the doorway that led back to her own mind, Aayla's astral form paused, cocking her head as she pointed through the mental landscape. "Harry, why's that crystal pink?"

Hiding a gulp, Harry smiled wanly, really, really that Aayla wouldn't push on this topic. "Um, those are not-fun type embarrassing memories, like talks with my Mum about my dad, or that time we found Master Laitha meditating in the hydroponics section dressed in her underthings and I walked into a tree and other things of that nature."

Narrowing her eyes, Aayla turned her attention on him for a second before staring at the crystal in question. It was small, only coming up to her waist, and not very thick, but it was a dark pink color unlike the other memory crystals all around them, so it grabbed her attention. As did her own memory of that time, and the whisper of the emotions Harry had felt then. She didn't know what to make of them, though they had irritated her a little at the time, like when he allowed Zule to run her fingers through his hair or vice-versa.

Thankfully for Harry, it was late and they were both tired, so Aayla didn't press him about him about the crystals, though she came back to it a few times over the next few days. Then Harry received a reprieve of sorts, though it was not of a kind he would ever have wanted. Orders arrived from Coruscant for Master Saa and the _Explorer_ , and the ship began to make its way back to the Core Worlds.

The majority of the clan had advanced enough it was time for the clan to head to head to Coruscant for their final years of training. The Council of First Knowledge, which organized the Jedi academy, the training of the initiates and the Holocron Library had decided that even with the ongoing experiments the clan aboard the Explorer could not be left to its own devices any longer.

That meant it was time for Harry, Lily and Fay to leave the _Explorer_. Every time Fay or T'ra looked into the future they saw the Force had not wavered in its message: to bring Harry to Coruscant too soon was to invite some kind of disaster. Though despite being so clear on that the Force was frustratingly vague on what that disaster might be.

T'ra and Fay felt it might be a fracturing of the Order, though why or what the reason would be was unclear. Yoda hadn't been certain even of that, but the end result was the same. Harry had to leave his friends behind for their safety and his. Worse for Harry and Aayla, she couldn't come with him as had originally been planned for several reasons.

For one thing, like the majority of the clan, indeed all of them save Alecto and Harry, hadn't quite hit puberty just yet. That didn't quite mean the same thing among Twi'leks as it did humans, let alone the other races represented in the clan, but it was still 'a time of great emotional and physical turmoil which must be carefully planned for', as the Order put it.

This was one of the major reasons the entire clan was being ordered to Coruscant. It was the task of the council of First Knowledge to conduct initiates through the lessons necessary to instill control over their new animalistic thoughts and urges. And the five masters who made up the council refused point blank to let any clan go through it elsewhere.

When she had heard about this Lily's opinion on the Order plummeted to heretofore unseen levels, and she blistered the bulkheads with her diatribe. Fay and T'ra actually agreed with some of her points, though both were thankful none of the younglings had overheard her else they have to deal with their enhanced vocabulary. Despite that however they couldn't argue with the Council of First Knowledge.

Nor could Yoda at this point. He and Master Giiett were under extreme pressure from the rest of the council to show more of the ancient knowledge that had been rediscovered. Their new abilities had won them interest and several years of freedom for the clan to train, but the fact Yoda refused to tell anyone exactly where the new techniques had come from had begun to wear on even his supporters in the council.

Mace in particular was concerned about it, and Yoda's request for a study on the hereditary nature of the Force and his research into the Ruusan Reformation and the effect it had on Jedi abilities had set hackles to rising throughout the Order. Worse was his decision to push for allowing the Old Oath to be taken by those knights who decided it was closer to their own belief on how Jedi should act. But despite his position as Grand Master, Yoda could not make dictatorial decisions without explaining himself to the rest of the High Council.

The argument over this had gone on for months, until Yoda had been overruled. The Order, the other masters felt, had worked for over a thousand years based on the Reformation and the new Oath, and they saw no reason to change it despite Yoda's odd concerns. It was only the respect the entire Order felt for Yoda that allowed him to weather the storm, and Micah had nearly been removed from the council for his part in it.

But that argument had caused a lot of masters on all three councils to become leery about what was going on with the _Explorer_ and even his closest allies wanted to know more about it as well. Yoda had reluctantly decided it was time to show the Order as much of the rest of the new skills as they could. This included the shields, the stun technique (Harry's version of the Stupefy) the conjuration and control of fire and water, and the ability to change their skin and hair colors, which Aayla and Zule, to no one's surprise, had perfected beyond even Harry's skill level.

Yoda hoped to let the initiates take over and expand upon his and Giiett's sharing of their new techniques, not just with other masters as the two of them had been, but other clans, padawans and knights. It would be a ground up approach to change rather than from the top down, and would hopefully cause the changes to expand faster than they could be stopped, both the new techniques and the new way of seeing emotions and the Force.

And of them all, Aayla was by far the best at shield spells, and at teaching them. Plus both Quinlan and Tholme had mentioned Aayla a time or two to other Jedi, and the fact that Quinlan had felt a padawan bond with the girl. It would seem suspicious if she wasn't with the rest of the clan. So despite his desire to let the two young bonded remain together, Yoda was forced to separate them.

When they arrived back in Denon, Fay decided it was time for them to leave. For the first time in years the Force was calling her away and it was time once more to take to the space-ways.

For Harry this was as close to leaving home as he would ever feel. Despite knowing it had been coming, despite preparing for it for days, leaving his friends behind was like a kick to the head. Leaving Aayla behind was worse. She was his first real friend, and leaving her **hurt** , like someone had taken a lightsaber to his guts.

Aayla was feeling it too, judging by the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She clung to him tightly as the two of them stood in the hangar Bay while behind them Fay's ship powered up. It still had no weapons, despite Yoda's insistence that she get some, but the shields on it had been revamped just as much as on the training vessel.

Fay waited by the entry ramp, the only person there. Lily and she had known this parting would be difficult, and wanted no one else there to watch. Harry had already said his farewells to the knights, masters and of course his fellow clan members. Those had been touching as well, with many a tear shed (by those races able to), though all the students understood the importance, even the younger ones understood how much of a draw Harry's power could be to someone who had some darkness within them. There had been after all a few examples of pranks and teasing that went too far even among them here.

"I'll miss you!" Aayla said, her voice muffled against Harry's chest. Harry nodded, whispering the words back to her as he rested his chin on top of her head. "Write to me?"

"I'll com-mail you constantly, at least once a week!" Harry promised, standing back for a second so he could put one hand over his heart. "And at least you'll be able to learn from Master Giiett for a time. That's a good thing right? And you'll only be stuck there for a year or so until Quinlan's ready to take you as padawan anyway. After that we'll arrange to meet up again as soon as possible"

Aayla nodded wanly.

Partly to soften what he knew would be a harsh blow, Master Giiett had added his own communique onto the Council of First Knowledge's orders. He had checked in on Aayla and Zule, and had told them he would continue their training in Jar'kai specific exercises when they arrived at Coruscant. It was indeed a very nice carrot, but it really was no match for the stick.

Then she locked eyes with Harry, and Harry understood. Both of them reached into their own minds for a moment, unlatching the doors they normally kept closed these days, having wanted to get into the habit so their parting would not seem as wrenching. It hadn't worked. "I'll miss you," Aayla said again, the words reaching Harry both via his ears and via his mind now, carrying with them a lot more depth and feeling than mere physical words could contain.

"Me too," Harry said, and Aayla could feel his sincerity through their link. "I'll keep this open as we leave, though I don't know what it will feel like when we enter hyperspace, it could hurt or something."

"Master Yoda always told us the Force was everywhere, so hopefully nothing will happen. Maybe distance won't matter at all to our link."

Even as she said that Aayla knew that was somewhat wishful thinking. She couldn't for example feel her bond to Quinlan any longer, not since he had left them several years back. Before that she had been able to feel his presence anywhere in the system, but the hyperspace limit or light speed limit seemed to be too much for such things. Still, she was hopeful. Her bond with Harry was after all deeper and though she would never say it aloud, more dear to her than the connection to Quinlan. And she wanted to stay in touch with him regardless.

Harry nodded, and pulled Aayla into another hug, squishing her against him so much she actually giggled a little, as she did the same to him. After a moment they stood back again, staring in one another's eyes before nodding. "May the Force be with you Harry," Aayla said, before she resolutely backed away again.

Harry took a deep breath, nodded and grinned at his first and most special friend, manfully banishing his own tears. "May the Force be with you too, Aayla Se'cura."

He turned away then, moving over to Master Fay and his mother, who nodded to Aayla before turning and gently escorting Harry aboard the ship. The two of them had already paid their own farewells to the girl of course. Only when the ramp closed, did Harry allow a few tears to appear in his eyes, but he shook them off quickly, knowing that somehow Aayla would feel it through their bond.

Instead, he looked around interestedly. He had never been in Master Fay's yacht yet, but he knew that she and Lily had been busy here. The first sign of this was the size of the room he entered from the landing ramp. It should have been a very small seating area, good enough for two or three people to sit comfortably together within talking range around a circular table but with room for little else beyond a few plants and a recessed series of drawers.

Instead it was nearly as large as the living quarters aboard the _Explorer_. In one corner was the original chairs and other things near the door to the kitchen. The rest was blank, save for a few extra lights strung up here and there running on the same runic array Fay had first experimented with.

Fay smiled, gesturing him on with a gentle touch to his shoulder. "Your room will be across the hallway from mine, we expanded it from a maintenance locker, it was our first real success with expansion arrays that didn't go out of control."

"A whole day of traveling in blank, white nothingness," Lily groaned, exchanging a wry look with the other woman, who shrugged her shoulders in return, a small but warm smile on her own face. The two of them had become fast friends over the years, and greatly enjoyed one another's company even when not working on any projects.

"The kitchen is through there," Fay explained, gesturing to a doorway sat next to their table and the chairs. "You'll find a lot of things in there I think that you will enjoy experimenting with Harry, I know I will."

Harry had kept up cooking while aboard the training vessel, learning from Master Giiett while he was there who was somewhat of a gourmand among Jedi in that he could actually cooked very decent meals rather than simple meals to fuel the body. The children needless to say had been an appreciative audience for his skills.

The cockpit was small, set in the head of the sleek, almost birdlike design of the yacht, it was still the original size because there were too many electrical devices in here for Lily and Fay to want to use space expansion charms around them. Nor was there honestly any point, since Fay and Harry were the only people aboard. Everything looked well cared for, and Harry could almost feel Fay's presence here. "How long have you owned this ship Master Fay?" he asked.

"Over a hundred and twenty years now. It's a discontinued model I understand now, but it was top-of-the-line back then, made in Kuat. They foisted it on me after I helped the locals deal with a series of natural disasters. I tried to tell them not to, Jedi should not grow attached to objects after all, but having my own ship was simply too useful for me to turn down."

Harry nodded, and began to familiarize himself with the controls. Like the others he had been taught a few easy lessons about how to pilot, but nothing major just yet, considering their ages. He knew how to activate the communicators and the shields, as well as how to read the radar, but he couldn't pilots just yet despite being told more than once his reflexes would serve him in good stead at the task.

"Call the bridge Harry, which would be those buttons over there. Tell them to open up the hanger bay doors." Fay said, pointing to what she wanted, as she slipped into the pilot's chair with Harry taking the navigators position. Lily hovered above them, watching everything with interest, her form half in, and half out of the cockpit, pushed through the closed hatchway.

"This is the _Whispering Wind_ , requesting clearance for takeoff?" Harry asked through the communicator.

A few moments later, the yacht exited the larger training vessel, moving into a prescribed route out and away from the busy space lanes of the planet below, another Ord system called Ord Nuva with Harry watching avidly. Of course he'd seen this several times already, but such things never got old for him.

It took the ship about 40 minutes to clear the busy portion of the spaceways around the planet, moving towards the designated hyperspace out section. There Fay closed her eyes briefly, allowing the Force to tell her once again where she needed to go.

The answer somewhat startled her, being quite a bit further away than she had expected it to be, but she obediently turned her ship in that direction, facing not quite core world word but almost in that direction Galactic North. There was a few troubles apparently nearby but the biggest one the Force was telling her about was in that direction. _Interesting, and rather worrisome that a problem as far away as that one needs my specific attention. Or_ Fay, frowned further, _is it that my padawan is being called in that direction, and it is both our presences which are needed?_

Regardless, she had her next destination in mind, and quickly inputted the coordinates into the system. Looking over at Harry she smiled faintly. "You will be able to feel out of Force like this eventually Harry, to know where it wishes you to go. But for now, are you ready?"

"No, I don't want to leave," he said honestly, "but I know you need to be on the move and I know it's important to keep my abilities under wraps, I just wish I didn't have to leave Aa, um I mean my friends."

Fay smiled slightly as she watched Harry steel himself, vaguely feeling him send one last farewell down the mental link he and Aayla shared. Aayla responded in a similar manner, then Harry opened his eyes and nodded at her. "I'm ready now Master."

Fay wordlessly reached forward and activated the hyperspace engines, and Harry twitched as back on the _Explorer_ Aayla did the same. Their bond wasn't quite gone entirely they could still feel one another, but that connecting corridor had narrowed to a bare glimmer, and with it their ability to speak mind to mind.

Aboard the Explorer Aayla crumpled to the ground only to be caught by Wulo who charged forward from the end of the hanger bay, catching her on his back as the rest of the clans quickly gathered around her along with the teachers not on duty in the cockpit.

In the _Windblown_ Harry's hands gripped the armrests of his chair, and he softly began to sob while Lily leaned down, throwing her arms around him in one of her ethereal hugs as Fay did the same from the side, shaking her head sadly.

 **OOOOOOO**

The moment they came out of the first jump, Harry reached out through his connection to Aayla, trying desperately to find it. He did eventually, but the distance was so great he couldn't get much out of it save a general location, which was next to useless at this range, and the fact she was physically okay.

Coming out of his mediation he shook her head, looking almost shattered, so sad Fay hugged him again, her arm around his shoulder as she looked over at Lily. "No luck?"

Gathering himself with difficulty Harry shook his head slowly. "I can feel her, but only barely, not enough to get much out of it. I think she can feel my feelings a little better, but not much at this range."

"I don't think it's a power thing, it's just we can't seem to reach that far… like we don't know how or…" He trailed off, unsure how to explain what he was feeling.

Fay smiled slightly, shaking her head. "Harry you know Force Precognition takes a lot of work to get to any useable level. But that is only a small sample of the skill needed to reach through the Force from one system to another to feel out a specific item. Your connection, consider it like a rope, tying the two of you together. Up close it is a thick rope, easily seen and usable. But at this distance it has become unraveled to a single thread, still connecting you but hard to use, and harder to find among the waves of the Unifying Force."

Shuddering lightly Harry nodded, pushing himself gently out of Fay's arms to smile up at her. "Like how you can feel where the Force wants you to go?"

"Exactly. I will teach you Harry, and I promise that you will be able to reach out and connect with Aayla in time even from this distance." Fay replied looking up at Lily once more who smiled in thanks at her.

Harry nodded as well, leaning back into the copilot's chair, shaking his head and deliberately concentrating on something else for the moment. "So, where do we go from here?"

Those first few weeks away were a trial for both Harry and Aayla. Thankfully they each had a good support structure in place to help them through it. in Aayla's case, Shaak Ti, Zule and the rest of the clan helped her immensely, never leaving her alone to brood and always there with a shoulder to cry on. In Harry's case Fay became far more touchy-feely than she normally was, touching his hair or hugging him whenever she or Lily thought he might start brooding.

Despite this personal issue, life had to continue. Since Master Fay had described how she was guided to her various missions, neither of her two companions questioned her about what they were doing, which was to the good, since it took them several small jumps to get to their next target, something that slowed them down noticeably. And overall, Master Fay was pleased how the first two missions with them went. Both of them were diplomatic missions which were Fay's forte for one thing.

The first was on the planet of the Ikotchi or rather the gas giant the Ikotchi's home planet, a moon, orbited. The conflict, which was between them and the Techno Union about mining rights, was threatening to become violent. The Techno Union of course had a huge industrial and technological base, as well as several dozen bought senators in the Senate, so if it had come to a true bargaining table, the Ikotchi would have lost. Their Senator was not well thought of, they didn't have the money or resources that their opponents had, and they were not nearly as ruthless as exploiting the bureaucratic maze of the Republic's ruling body.

Master Fay however was able to calm things down, moving them away from formally demanding a Senate hearing on this issue, and get both sides to agree that they each had points that the other could benefit from. Eventually, the Techno Union agreed to a partnership for the mining rights of certain gases from the moon, provided they used plants on the Ikotchi homeworld to refine them, providing jobs and a major monetary boost to the planet's economy. The profit wasn't nearly as great this way, but both sides still made some, which was the important thing.

Throughout this entire process Master Fay continued to teach Harry about the Force, about how it could be used in situations like this, and about politics in general. She already knew however that whatever Harry was going to be, he would not be a Consular. He was extremely charismatic in a way for a young boy, people seemed to gravitate to him, and he was extremely intelligent. But the minutiae of diplomacy held no interest for him.

Lily was much the same way to Fay's surprise. She just didn't have enough patience to hear everyone else out on any given issue if she thought they were being arrogant or willfully blind. On the other hand her ability to go anywhere unseen by anyone or anything beyond another Force sensitive was a major boon.

For Lily, the second mission was much more of an eye-opener than the first. She'd gone on a few sort-of diplomatic missions for the Order of the Phoenix, and had seen the kind of back-and-forth that politicians so loved. But the second intervention was of a different sort entirely.

Their ship had made its slow way around the Outer Rim Territories, only heading into the Mid Rim Territories a few times, and once to the Colony region to take a hyperspace lane back out and away towards Galactic North and East. Why they had gone out of their way to do this Master Fay couldn't explain, only that the Force was telling her to move in that direction. This meant several weeks cramped inside the ship, but that was fine, considering all the enhancements Fay and Lily had done to this particular ship.

The second mission turned out to be a series of pirate raids on the planet Tenaab. Tenaab was an agrarian colony, a major exporter of foodstuffs, but in no way a rich planet. It did however sit in a nexus of space that was almost cut off from trade routes, making it a target for pirates since they did not have to fear reprisals from the more advanced worlds which had their own defense forces.

In fact a raid was in progress when Master Fay's ship arrived in system. A dozen ramshackle vessels of various sizes were moving towards the planet, destroying what few defensive satellites the planet owned in their wake.

These satellites were small things, almost like stationary space fighters, armed with a single turbolaser or Quad laser and shield coupled to a very basic computer program. Only in massive numbers were they any real threat to anything larger than a single starfighter, and even then, they weren't worth much, a few Core Worlds had devised them more as an efficient way to scam money out of Outer Rim worlds than actual defenses.

"Harry, take the controls keep us heading in system on this heading, I am going to be busy for a bit." Harry jumped to obey Fay's command while she closed her eyes concentrating on her Force powers. Both of them felt it, a wave of energy emanating away from her and out throughout the entire star system, acting almost like a radar ping for a moment before finding its targets and narrowing down like sunlight through a magnifying glass.

Through the Force Fay found the minds of each of the ship's captains. Once she did, she reached inside them, shutting them down in turn, literally cutting the connection between mind and body for the moment, sending them into unconsciousness. She wouldn't keep them that way, that was beyond cruel after all, but it was a much more peaceful solution then boarding the ships would have been even if she allowed Harry to use his abilities.

None of the captains or their crew was Force sensitive. They couldn't fight back, and fell to her soft assault far more easily than they would have to any Guardian boarding their ship. Their seconds in command fell similarly, and then, as Harry guided them forward, she widened and softened her attack almost, putting dozens of pirates to sleep in the next few moments. Only one ship at the far edge of the formation was far enough away to even try to escape her unseen, unstoppable assault, and it did not succeed.

No other Jedi could have done this. No one else had the sheer mastery, the deft touch that allowed her to reach so far, touch the minds of her targets from this range. And even to Fay this was a difficult task. Sweat appeared on her forehead and her hands clenched around one another as her attack continued for several moments while Harry flew her yacht closer to the planet.

"Done," Fay said at last, wiping a weary hand over her brow. "Please contact Tenaab's government and relay it to me when you get to it Harry. Tell them to shut down their defenses for the moment, and not target this cruiser."

Fay leaned over to the navigator's console, nearly falling to the side as she did, but righted herself quickly, her strength returning slowly. She pointed at the symbol of one of the larger pirate vessels on the radar.

Harry did so, searching through the planet's communication frequencies looking for a voice that sounded as if they knew what they were doing, and were calm enough to understand that circumstances had suddenly changed. After the first few frantic signals he picked up, Harry realized this was going to be a while. "Why that ship Master?" he asked, looking over his shoulder only then realizing that Fay had gone.

He still heard her voice however as she moved through the ship towards the landing ramp. "Because you're going to dock us with it, and then I'm going aboard. I sense something different about that ship."

What she had sensed was that this ship had already taken some cargo, a cargo which made Harry's blood boil. He knew that slavery was allowed in this universe, not even just allowed but condoned in many cases, even knew the reasons behind it on Ryloth. The Twi'lek homeworld had literally nothing else to offer offworlders, it had never developed any kind of hyperspace technology or heavy industry of their own. The very nature of their world fought against it.

But to once again see slavery like this after nearly more than two years among the Jedi knowing that the Jedi didn't actually fight against the slave trade in any meaningful way was a blow. He looked at the slaves chained to the wall of the ship's cargo hold, most of whom looked as if they had been taken in raids, shaking his head.

"The Jedi don't do enough to fight this brand of evil," he said aloud, moving forward to help Master Fay free the slaves one after another. She had already retrieved the device from the ship's very limited, very crude, medical center to remove the small bombs set into each of their necks.

Fay sighed but nodded. "It's too deeply entrenched, has too many factors, and unfortunately the Jedi Order tends to look inwards at the Republic rather than out to the Outer Territories and the Hutts."

Of course even in the Core Worlds there was a certain amount of slavery, though nowhere near to the extent practiced elsewhere. That was much more personal sort of slavery, but it was still vile for all that.

"I could make it my personal quest to change that state of affairs," Harry said, his voice deadly serious, as he helped one young boy who looked about three years older than himself except for the fact that he was emaciated to his feet. Luckily for Harry's state of mind there weren't any women aboard this group, these were all laborers rather than pleasure slaves.

"I think you will find that some things are beyond even Jedi, my young padawan. Doing what you can when you run into the issue is the best you can do for the most part." Fay said, sighing again.

Harry, Master Fay and Lily were soon joined by several shuttles coming up from the planet below to take possession of the pirate ships one after another, while the pirates remained asleep. The pirates were taken down planet and summarily executed to a man. Regardless of circumstances, piracy and slave-taking were still nominally illegal, and carried the death sentence in most Republic systems save for a few, as Lily put it, bleeding heart, Core Worlds like Alderaan and Chandrilla.

The trio remained on Tenaab for a time while Master Fay did what she could to help train the locals in how to use their new ships. The largest four ships Master Fay sent to Gizer, a system somewhat further out along the Perliman Trade Route, to be retrofitted and rebuilt as system defense ships.

Of course when the Gizer's governor was told what had happened, he ordered the systems construction yards to take up the job gratis so long as they in return got a deal on food supplies from Tenaab. A nearly barren world with massive mineral resources and a thriving orbital industry, Gizer could not feed its people and needed to import most of its food.

It had deals already with a few food corporations to bring in food, ironically the same who had initially pushed Tenaab's colonization. The same companies who were too skinflint to employ a defense force or build real orbital defenses, and who had been voted out of control of the planet several years ago because of this neglect. But who still controlled a monopoly on out-system shipping to and from the planet.

It would be much cheaper to buy direct from Tenaab than work through these food corporations of course even if Gizer had to pay for the transportation, which it would at first. Master Fay negotiated a deal between the two systems to this effect, which gave Gizer what amounted to enough food for its population for two years in return for the work on the ships and the creation of enough orbital industry to service them and the transports which would now ply the space-lanes between the two planets. This would eventually evolve into mutual defense treaties and an almost equal alliance between the two systems, cutting out the greedy corporations entirely from the ongoing profit.

After several months work the agreement was in place, the planet had its first real defense, and Master Fay felt the Force calling her on.

It was only after they left Tenaab that Master Fay began to realize that for all her skill in listening to the Force, she could not match Harry's penchant for finding trouble, mostly trouble of the violent kind unfortunately.

The planet the Force called her to next was named Vena. It was a relatively high tech world situated near the Hapes cluster along the only hyperspace route into that cluster so it did a brisk business with the Hapan Shield Worlds and the rest of the Republic. Despite that, because it had been developed by ancient Hapan colonists, it was remarkably isolationist in its policies, with no other Republic companies or corporations allowed to operate within its system.

That had changed a few years ago. The pro-Republic Baron and Baroness, both of whom had been trained and educated elsewhere in the Republic, had slowly begun to open its borders to Republic companies and businesses. This brought money pouring into their own coffers.

There was a lot of pressure from the rest of the planet to stop this process, both social and economic based. It was after all only the Baron and Baroness becoming rich on this policy, not the rest of the nobility. And there really wasn't a lot that the Republic could provide that the planet itself could not at this point. Local businesses were suffering hugely, and the opposition was growing. In return, the Baron and Baroness had begun to crack down on any such often times violently according to what little news of the planet Master Fay had going in.

Moments afterthey exited hyperspace and she told the local system controllers who she was, Master Fay started to broker a meeting between the two rulers and the nominal head of their opposition. Setting it up would take days even with her Jedi powers and reputation helping the process along, there was a lot of arrogance, distrust and venom at work here. Master Fay spent a few days doing legwork with Harry, though when she finally had set up the meeting Harry had begged off of actually joining the discussion.

"What will you do instead?" Master Fay asked, looking up at him from a reader she was reading on a few of the local issues. She couldn't just give an arbitrary decision here, far too many lives would be impacted by their decisions to let any Jedi do that. And the Force, while an excellent tool to put an individual where they needed need be, wasn't so very good at providing all the information needed to do the task in front of you.

"I thought I would check out the local markets," Harry said with a shrug. "It's been a while since we've taken on food after all, and apparently Vena has some unique animals and spices."

"Trust you to look up that information when you're supposed to be helping me figure out this planet's issues," Fay said jokingly, reaching out to pull Harry's ear lightly. "I don't know about you going off on your own though," she said more seriously. "Lily, would you go with him?"

"Of course I would, but don't you need my help to spy on the locals?" Lily waved her hand to the hologram device set between the three of them in the small corner that was the sitting room of the larger training area. It showed the meeting hall that would be used for the upcoming discussion, as well as in another portion of it the image of the Baron and Baroness's palace. "I thought you were of the impression that these two would possibly try to double-cross you, and wanted to be fore-warned of any such."

"I am, but I still don't like the idea of Harry going off on his own."

"I can handle myself even if you haven't allowed me to build my lightsaber yet," Harry said with a grin that took a bit of the sting out of the words.

Master Fay didn't use a lightsaber, period, full stop. She thought of them as a useful tool for those who were inclined towards combat, but she knew herself to not be one of those, and she disliked the fact they were seen as the symbol of the Jedi when they were but the smallest portion of what truly made the Jedi who they were. But Fay knew that was not for everyone.

In fact, it was beginning to bother her a little, given that in another year Harry would reach the point in his training where he would normally start building his own lightsaber rather than use the numerous training tools they had brought along for that purpose. They had even brought along training manuals from Master Yoda and Master Saa but those were no substitute for training with the masters in person.

She knew that in his ongoing communication with Aayla she and the rest of the clan were starting to build their own lightsabers now. The two of them communicated at least once every month even now, more often if they could get away with it, but that wasn't often. And she knew Harry was beginning to feel anxious about being left behind by his friends.

Nonetheless Fay reached out to ruffle Harry's already messy hair, laughing that jab off. "How does it get so messy?" she asked, pulling her hand back and looking at Harry's hair for a moment, shaking her head with a fond smile.

She had gotten quite close to Harry over the past few months, closer than they had been on the Explorer, and Fay had come to the same conclusion on the Light side of emotions and attachments as Lily had: that fear of said was ridiculous in the extreme and the fear of those emotions turning against you no reason to shut oneself off from them in the first place. She would be hard-pressed to say if she saw him as a younger brother or a son, but the feeling she had toward him was definitely something along those lines.

"It's a Potter trait, James was the same way," Lily said with a chuckle shaking her head and smiling slightly at Fay.

Harry smiled. Despite the fact that Harry felt the man might have been a bit of a prat for most of his life, he still enjoyed hearing stories about his father occasionally, and liked the idea he shared some physical traits with his father. "Please?" he asked. "You know I can handle myself."

"I know you can handle yourself, I'm just wondering if it is the best idea to yet let any young boy your age out on his own." Fay fretted slightly. "The amount of times you younglings got into some kind of trouble or complication was quite high after all."

Harry gave her a deadpan look, and Fay rolled her eyes. "Very well you can go to the market, the five nearest to the palace mind, nothing out in the rural areas."

"Five will be more than enough to compare prices Master. After all, I'm not so interested in looking at the sights, just the foods. We can go sightseeing after you've spanked everyone and sent them to bed without any supper until they start acting like rational adults rather than greedy children."

"Not the most diplomatic way of putting it, but possibly the most accurate in some cases," Master Fay replied shaking her head with a faint laugh.

The next day, Harry spent the morning talking via Hypercom with Aayla, the girl having the entire morning off to recover from an injury to her upper thigh during lightsaber practice. She regaled Harry with tales of her training and he replied with stories of the worlds he had visited with Master Fay.

Eventually however as it always did they simply sat looking at one another for a time. Aayla spoke first, shaking her head. "I miss you. It's just not the same without you and Mistress Lily here. And for all the exercises here push my body, they don't push my imagination as much. Trying to keep from, showing off isn't easy. Though at least the rest of the clan is in the same position."

Aayla and Harry knew they shouldn't talk about the things they could do over the Hypercom. The masters on Coruscant could, if they desired, listen in on messages like this, and personal messages of this nature were frowned upon in any case. Master Yoda had given Aayla permission to send or receive these messages, but even so, there were other masters who claimed it was favoritism and might listen in. Or worse, enabling an emotional connection, which even between Jedi was against the Order's oaths despite Yoda's best efforts to slowly change opinion on the matter.

"I miss you too, a lot. But from what Master Fay passes on, Yoda still doesn't want me on Coruscant. You know I'm not good at reading the future like that, but Master Fay says it would still lead to some kind of disaster." Harry sighed then replied as he had several few times before. "You could join me out here."

"You know that's not happening just yet. The Order might be willing to let you be trained by Master Fay alone before completing your initiate years, but I'm still an initiate, and I don't have your ability." Aayla said, though she smiled as she did it.

"You have most of them though." Harry replied, though he knew that was wrong, they both did. Aayla had come along magnificently with a lot of the skills he had created with his mother's help over the years spent on the _Explorer_ , but she wasn't close to his own level in terms of her ability to mold the Force into 'spells', and they both knew it.

Transfiguration beyond small things eluded her entirely, as did conjuration, though her shields were almost as good as his, which was one of the reasons why they had been separated in the first place. Of all the clan, only Aayla had any luck in trying to teach other younglings how to create shields, which was one of the main skills Yoda wanted to see spread throughout the Order. She also could change her skin color and even eyes, something even Harry had trouble with outside of controlling his hair for short amounts of time.

"That's nice of you to say Harry, even if it isn't true." Aayla said, her eyes locked on Harry's own for a few silent moments. After over a year separated, Harry was now able to get a bit more information out of the bond than he had before, as was Aayla, though her studies hadn't helped her as much as his with Master Fay had.

They could now feel if one another was having fun, in distress, or pain, so long as they were concentrating on the bond. But that wasn't much, not in comparison to what they had.

There was so much they wanted to say, so much Harry wanted to share with Aayla. About his ongoing training, about how much he missed her. But they couldn't, not over the Hypercom, and their ability to send information that far over their link wasn't up to it.

He suddenly laughed, though it was a more sorrowful sound than a happy one. When Aayla's image cocked its head quizzically Harry tapped his forehead meaningfully "When we meet up again in person we're going to have to spend weeks **talking** to really get one another up to speed."

Aayla laughed too, shaking her head. "Definitely!"

Then she blinked as Harry's smile suddenly turned into a smirk, getting a feeling if impish amusement from him through their link for a second. "And you'll have to tell me about those classes you just started taking about combating, what did Master Saa call it, 'the natural chaotic thoughts brought about by the changing of your physical body', something like that anyway. I could feel your embarrassment last week when those started."

Looking away Aayla felt her face flush. Those lessons were one on one sessions with one of the five masters on the Council of First Knowledge. The lessons were part meditation, part physical exercise, part biology lesson, and part what Lily and even Fay agreed amounted to subtle brainwashing. The Master downplayed the importance of the new thoughts and feelings even as they forced the initiate to organize his thoughts in such a way that the new urges were never given precedence, always under firm control or locked away in their minds.

They were easily the most embarrassing thing that Aayla had ever dealt with, and in a way frightening. Finding out what her breasts were supposed to be for was one thing, finding out what people might use slaves like she had been, outside of dancing, for another thing entirely.

And the master she had been assigned for them was worse, a dry, bookish elderly human woman who was among those who disapproved of the time the clan was trying her best to either wash Aayla out of the Order or to force her into the normal Order's mold. It wasn't working, but the classes were still ongoing.

"Don't make fun of me Harry please," Aayla said, shaking her head. "Those lessons are hard enough as it is."

Then she smirked, and Harry had a brief moment to feel a spurt of anticipation through their link before she turned the tables on him. "On the other hand, I think I've got a really good idea about what those pink crystals were really about. Heh… oh yes, I am definitely looking forward to our time **talking**."

Now it was Harry's turn to blush, breaking eye contact with the now smirking Aayla with some difficulty. "Who the bloody heck do you think features in those crystals the most huh…" he muttered, trying to push out a feeling of affection towards Aayla through their link. A lot of it was still lost due to their distance, but enough got through to reach her.

Aayla's eyes shown with amusement and a bit of happiness at that. If Lily had been in the room she would have taken one look and laughed aloud knowing that here at least the Order's brainwashing against forming attachments had never had a chance. "Good."

Then she looked to the side, sighing, her eyes losing some of the happy gleam they had whenever the two of them talked. "Look, I have to go. Look out for yourself alright Harry, we'll talk again soon." Harry nodded, and the com cut off.

Shaking his head, Harry pushed away from the communication table, determined to find something else to concentrate on rather than the gaping void by his side where his best friend should be. With that in mind he quickly left Fay's ship on his own, moving towards the nearest market shown on his map, checking the street signs occasionally to make sure he wasn't getting lost. Not that it was all that difficult to hear the sounds of the market ahead of him after a while.

That first market wasn't much to look at, but it was noisy as heck, with several thousand people all trying to squish into a few stores, with long lines and not a lot welcome or enjoyment being shown in the actual shopping. People just wanted to get their purchases and leave quickly there was no haggling, advertising or taste-testing as there should have been. Harry stood watching from the end of the street then shook his head and moved to the next one on his list.

This one was much more his kind of thing, open-air markets were always fun, and this one was very open-air. It was set into a gigantic area almost as large as an amphitheater in size, with a light purple and yellow canopy tied to large poles along one side of the area. It was rolled back now, but presumably there to cover the area in case of rain. The flags and pendants of the planet flew on poles on the opposite side from the rolled up canopy, and the entire space was filled with stalls, with hundreds of local vendors selling their wares, shouting over one another to be heard through the tumult of the crowd.

Harry moved through the crowd, sniffing occasionally, sampling here, listening to cooks explain how to cook this or that local delicacy, filing it all away in his mental cabinet marked cooking. Only occasionally did he purchase things and ordering them to be delivered to the ship later on.

He was having so much fun, that it took Harry a while to feel the change in the atmosphere of the crowd, and here the voice shouted over the hubbub. Someone was using a megaphone or something similar to be heard, but it still took a few moments for his words to register. "This is what we are, local grown, local owned! Say no to the Republic!"

As Harry zeroed in on the voice he saw a local man, his age indeterminate standing on a series of crates. He held a simple megaphone to his mouth as he exhorted the local crowd, most of whom ignored the rabble-rouser. Others simply nodded along to his words, and there was a crowd around him of around 20 people that seemed to be taking in his words avidly.

"The governor and Baroness must be removed!" The man shouted. "We cannot allow them to ruin us, cannot allow them to ruin our way of life! The Republic is well and good, but not here, not like this!"

Harry shrugged, turning away. Having looked at some of the things Master Fay was looking into for this problem he understood the man's point. He didn't know that he agreed with the man that this was the right medium for it, after all it was sort of preaching to the choir in this area. Harry hadn't seen a single product that wasn't local.

Shrugging his shoulders and deciding to leave the man to it, Harry went back to his fun for a few moments. He nodded to a group of women, of all ages including one his own age, who seems to be enjoying themselves just as much as he was. Moving up to the one who seemed in charge he asked, "Excuse me, but do you know the difference between this kind of meat and this one? I've heard about six different answers from the locals so I thought to get another perspective."

"I'm afraid not young one," the woman said, shrugging her shoulders in ignorance. "I do know that this one is quite tasty, and expensive," she said pointing to one of the meats that Harry had indicated on the tray in front of them. "While this one is an unknown to me though looks much the same."

Harry frowned thoughtfully and decided to order small supplies of both, saying aloud, "After all, I'll simply see which one tastes better myself. It's always more fun that way."

The woman, a rather fat jolly sort, chuckled while the others in her party rolled her eyes at her attitude. Most of them wore clothing that was quite a bit more formal than hers, including the young girl of around six or so by Harry's estimate who was staring at him with startlingly purple eyes, a small sneer appearing on her face as she spotted his padawan braid, which Fay had told him to grow.

Harry nodded to her, and she seems to sniff, looking away for a moment. Harry shrugged his shoulders, turning back to his work.

Then he heard another voice over the crowd. "This is an illegal gathering. By order of the Baron and Baroness, all locally grown foodstuffs must pass through Lord Vetnine's properties. This market is therefore shut down! Disburse to your homes or you will be arrested."

Harry gaped, staring towards the speaker. He was a tallish individual apparently, clad in black form fitting armor from head to toe including a helmet with a wide visor for his eyes. He had a riot shield on one arm, and around him were several other men arrayed in black clad armor and helmets and carrying stun sticks, some kind of large-barreled gun, hopefully some kind of crowd dispersal weapon.

The man's voice emanated from his helmet once more, louder than before as the crowd quieted in reply. "Disburse immediately or we will take action and disperse you ourselves."

Harry scowled and was about to move forward intent on stopping the man when someone in the crowd lobbed a piece of local fish or produce at him with surprising accuracy, the fish splattering against the officer's helmet. "No more off world influence!" shouted the man with the megaphone, and that was when it was all went to hell.

The weapons on those troopers' shoulders were shock cannons rather than blasters set on stun. The difference was that one simply sent out of stun bolt, able to knock individuals unconscious relatively painlessly. At least from the bolt itself, someone could still hurt themselves badly falling down after all. Shock cannons however were something else, area affect weapons that shot out arcs of electricity, electrocuting individuals until they fell unconscious.

In response to the attack on their commander two of the men in black lowered their cannons from their shoulders firing into the crowd, sending the crowd into shrieks of agony and pain. Then the others, around 50 men all wearing the same outfits moved forward, there stun batons swiftly smashing out at anyone in their way as they formed a shield wall.

Harry had been out range of the shock cannons, and simply stood there for a stunned moment, appalled. Then he looked on in shock as some of the locals began to fire back against the troopers. The locals however didn't have blaster weapons they had slug shooters like the guns back on Earth. Most of the bullets bounced off the attacker's armor or shields, but one man went down at a lucky shot through the faceplate.

"They've got weapons!" said the man who with the splattered facemask from where he had stepped back behind his men. Now he moved forward to join the line raising his riot shield. "Lethal Force is authorized!"

Harry had no time to wonder if this was something the group had come expecting or hoping for, or if the man had simply panicked. The end result would've been the same, a lot of dead people, and Harry wasn't about to stand for that. Reaching forward with the Force, Harry tried to push the crowd backwards away from the advancing troopers as their weapons began to fire in lethal earnest.

He tried to pull several of their weapons out of their hands, the fire going above the crowd rather than into it, but he couldn't see through the crowd all around him to concentrate on the weapons. "Get down!" he shouted, "All of you get down! I am a Jedi! Get down, and let me handle this!"

That was the first time Harry had actually called himself a Jedi in public, but he at least looked the part of a padawan, with his padawan braid, the only neat thing about his hair, and his clothing which was simple and workmanlike, complete with robe. Even so, despite amplifying his voice via the Force the crowd was in no mind to pay any attention, firing back at the police as they advanced and the crowd, killing several of the crowd now.

Abruptly Harry realized that the group of foreigners he had been talking to earlier was now near the front of the crowd facing the troopers with weapons trained on them. One of the foreigners had raised a communicator to her lips and was screaming into it frantically, while the young girl had taken up a gun and was actually firing back with a holdout blaster at the oncoming police with much more accuracy than the locals could.

That wouldn't have saved her though since she had no place to hide as the rest of the crowd retreated around them or tried to hide under stall and behind crates of food. The blaster bolts came on quickly, and Harry gritted his teeth, muttering an apology to his mum and Master Fay before he reached forward once again with Force.

A protective shield of pure Force power suddenly encompassed the entire front of the crowd, protecting first and then growing away from the girl and out towards the edges, catching all of the blaster bolts as they came. The police continued to hammer at the shield, but Harry kept it up, scowling angrily at them not even feeling the strain now he had so much practice with this technique. "I am Jedi padawan Harry Potter! Lower your weapons! This is an unlawful and unjust attack on your own citizens, lower your weapons, **now**!"

When they didn't, Harry, now able to see them all as the crowd around him had finally dropped to their knees gestured violently with one hand. His power lashed out, pulling their weapons, shock sticks, blasters cannons, and shield out of their hands with a single wrench of the Force. He held the weapons in the air far above their heads glaring at the troopers while he let the protective shield between the troopers and the crowd fall.

He turned to one of the locals, a big tough looking man who quickly got to his feet grinning at the youngster who had saved them all. "Take these men into custody Sir, I am, what is the term, breveting you to constable? Something like that."

"That'll do lad," the man said still smiling as he moved forward. A few of the police tried to put up a fight, but they were outnumbered heavily by the locals, and by the time reinforcements arrived, the entire market had been barricaded around the edges, and all of the troops tied up.

Harry moved out of the entrance to the market, staring at the police who had arrived along with what looked like a small tank of some kind. "Master Fay is not going to like this…"

Master Fay arrived on the scene a few moments later along with the Baron and Baroness and the local opposition leaders. Hearing what had happened both firsthand and from a lot of sources, the Baron and Baroness were forced by Master Fay to stand that their troops down ordering them back to their barracks.

"Needless to say Fay, this does not look good to me." said Fay staring at both rulers in turn. "You had promised me that your crackdown of the opposition would not escalate again into violence, yet you cannot control your own people? Or it are those orders are so ingrained that they have become blasé now? Regardless, this has gone on far enough. We will solve this issue today, this very hour."

"It is worse than that," said one of the foreigners who Harry had been talking to, while Harry manfully tried to ignore his mother, who was ruffling his hair affectionately shaking her head and saying something about Potter luck.

Master Fay of course heard Lily's voice and made a note of it. While disdaining the term luck in general, the Force might well guide Harry far more subtly than Fay's own abilities could match. Still she turned to the foreign woman looking at her quizzically. "May I ask your name?"

The woman scowled at her, looking between her and the boy who had saved them all, her scowl somewhat softening. Despite his heroism however, the boy was still a Jedi, and dislike of them was handed down almost as much is the isolationist views of the Hapes Cluster itself.

"I am Ambassador Crandall," the woman said, hesitating a moment as she looked at the little girl, whose eyes had remained fixed on Harry since the moment he revealed his powers before turning away to look at Fay and the locals a small sneer on her face. "And this attack would've seen me murdered! I was on the comlink with our embassy as the battle began to escalate and I have no doubt that by this time my government's response is on the way."

One of the Baron's hangers-on was a man wearing a helmet communicator, and he paled as something came through it. "She's right Your Highness, system security reports two Hapan Heruc-class battlecruisers and four squads of starfighters, unknown type, just jumped out of hyperspace. They are demanding to know if their ambassador is all right, and threatening to bombard the planet if they don't speak to her within the next 15 minutes!"

While Vena was a rich planet it didn't have the planetary shields that most Core worlds took for granted. Those installations were massive, expensive and time-consuming, the work of decades which consumed large portions of the most planets GDP. Outside of the Core Worlds they were somewhat rare because of this. That meant of course, that Vena was susceptible to orbital bombardment. And worse, two Hapan battlecruisers with four squadrons of starfighters outnumbered the local defenders two to one in terms of firepower and possibly in quality as well.

"Enough!" Master Fay said, gesturing to the woman. "Tell them you are well, we will escort you back to your embassy. From there we will continue our discussions."

Those discussions ended with both the Baron and Baroness being removed from power in order to stave off civil war, and shipped off-world to pay for crimes against humanity. It turned out that the crackdown on their opposition had been worse than had ever reached the Republic's ears, and with a Jedi on hand and with aid from Hapes in orbit, dozens of people came forward with evidence of that fact.

Master Fay spent three months on planet cleaning up afterwards, helping to install a new government that wouldn't be seen as a Republic puppet, which had some legitimacy in the local's eyes. Other Jedi might not have stayed to help that process along, but Master Fay was not another Jedi, she would only leave if the Force called her away or if she felt the job was done.

It would be some time before Harry learned that that little girl was not as he had thought at the time, and continued to think for years later, the ambassador's daughter. No, she was the daughter of far more august and powerful ally.

 **OOOOOOO**

Darth Sidious leaned back in his hidden throne room, his eyes closed as he subtly probed the Force, feeling out what was going on in the Temple and in the distant Yinchorri system. Thanks to Plagueis the Veil had been slowly taking shape for months now, aiding him in reaching out and feeling what was going on further away than he had previously been able to, while also blocking the Jedi from doing the same. The effect would grow in time, and Plagueis was elsewhere even now, continuing his work on it, leaving Sidious to watch over their work here in Coruscant.

This included their latest effort to both remove a variable and cut down on the Jedi's numbers. The first objective was going well, their Yinchorri tools had no more idea they were dancing to the Sith's tune than any other their other pawns. The second however had only marginal success thus far.

The order had lost the two Jedi they had sent to investigate the Yinchorri raid. Sidious had even felt at least two deaths since Windu, that unbending, inflexible, dangerous man had taken a team to see if they could find the Yinchorri ruling caste and force them to stop their assaults. But the two deaths had not been anyone of consequence, and Sidious had hoped for more from the Yinchorri.

 _Both in their home systems and here on Coruscant, the moronic lizards have not lived up to Plagueis' calculations. I suppose it serves me well as a abject lesson to not underestimate the Jedi, but I did not subtly convince that Devaronian that an assault on the Temple was a good idea to only kill a bare handful. While the fact they arrived on planet with none the wiser is something I can easily turn to my advantage in the Senate and in the local planetary control center, it does not make up for so few Jedi… wait… what is that?_

Sidious subtly probed the feel of the Force around the temple, not allowing any of his own thoughts to be felt with a mastery of Force Cloak that no Jedi even knew existed, his thoughts hidden among the eddies of the Unifying Force. That was so automatic he didn't even think about it now, his whole intellect bearing down on the feel of the odd sensation he had just glimpsed.

It felt as if someone had somehow molded the Force into a physical presence, a shield of Force energy. Sidious could feel it was made up of several different Jedi in one of their irritating gestalts, but even so, it was a technique he had never heard of.

The feel of it sparked the memory of the rumors Sidious had heard a few years ago about some old Force techniques being rediscovered by Master Yoda. _Perhaps there is more to those rumors than I thought. I must find out more. Hmm, if they are connected to that force of Light from several years ago which affected myself and my master so much, these new skills might offset The Plan._

With that concern paramount in his mind Sidious continued to probe gently around the Temple, but found nothing concrete. Something niggled at his senses, something that told him there was more here that he should be sensing, but that was all.

But after a moment, as the technique he had initially sensed faded away, his attention faded back to the physical world. No, there was nothing else there save the shield technique. With that Sidious turned his attention away, bringing up a series of computer systems as he began to scheme anew about how to go about getting that information. It never occurred to him that there might be things even he could not feel, could not see in the Force.

 **OOOOOOO**

Master Yoda turned away from the young knight who thought he had needed protection from the Yinchorri who had been playing dead, surveying the hallway where the main battle against the invaders of the Temple had occurred. He was about to address Master Raniscis about what might really have been behind this attack when a feeling in the Force reached both him and the other Jedi around them. He smiled faintly turning in that direction as did the other Council members present.

From deeper in the Temple Knight Shaak Ti appeared, followed by a few others, mostly young Consulars a few padawans, and notably a few initiates. "Hrhrhrm, safe the younglings are Knight Ti?"

"Yes Grand Master." Shaak Ti bowed floridly as she addressed Yoda and the other Council members, knowing Yoda disliked such grandiose shows of respect.

Shaak Ti was often like that, a creature of serenity yet also subtle humor, as well as understanding and veiled power that had made her T'ra Saa's choice to accompany the clan from the _Explorer_ as it transferred to the Temple, a choice that had proven inspired. She was also an excellent duelist, and Yoda had taken to training with her as often as he could. Their styles were not at all the same, but she was still learning from them quite well.

Yoda poked her in the leg with his gimmer stick, shaking his head at her attitude. That, and the fact that most of his fellows didn't even realize she was poking fun at them in being so respectful. "Report."

"The shield held easily against the Yinchorri that got past you here in the main hall, though we all took turns powering it to keep the shield in place. No injuries among the younglings or the others who took refuge with us, none were even exhausted by the ordeal." Shaak reported crisply, smiling slightly as the masters all around her looked torn between approval of the new technique and irritation that it had once again proven its worth.

The fact only a few of them had been able to use the new techniques was part of their irritation. Using the new Force powers required a certain mental flexibility that many Jedi had problems with. Shaak Ti felt that said much more about them then the techniques alas.

She went on more seriously. "The fact the Yinchorri tried so hard to get past the shield at all worries me, as does this attack in the first place. It serves no purpose from the Yinchorri perspective. Attacks like this are terror attacks, and they don't think in those terms, unless I am mistaken about their psychology?"

Yoda shook his head, exchanging a glance with Yaddle and Ranicisis. "Mistaken you were not, a reason behind this attack on the temple we must search for." He sighed, shaking his head. "Dark, the future is becoming, but reason behind the change, hidden it is."

Nodding her head, Shaak frowned, wondering what was happening to the Force until she felt a gentle Force Push to her side. Turning her head she saw Aayla standing in place with the others of her clan Shaak had called on to help in the shielding. It wasn't all of them, many of them were not suited to that task, and frankly even of those who were it would have been overkill. This also gave others outside the clan a chance to try the technique under trying circumstances.

But that wasn't why Aayla was with her now and Shaak rolled her eyes at the younger girl before turning back to Master Yoda. "With your permission then, I will see the younglings and initiates back to their dormitories."

Having caught Shaak's glance, a few of the masters present narrowed their eyes slightly, knowing that the young Twi'lek initiate would once again be contacting Master Fay's mysterious padawan, who none of them had met yet though the rumor of him had begun to get around slowly. Jedi were not stupid, and more than a few had realized it hadn't been Yoda or Saa who had rediscovered the lost techniques which were now being taught to practically every initiate in the Order with varying levels of success. Most thought it had been Fay, but even so could not understand why Yoda allowed Aayla such personal time with Fay's padawan.

For his part Yoda merely chuckled. His Force senses could feel the thread connecting Harry and Aayla, a thing of thin **Light** against the backdrop of the darkening Force. Every time he felt it, he felt the guilt of separating the two of them for so long. Yet it also reinforced his belief that he had made the right decision, despite how many headaches aiding the inclusion of the new Force techniques and ways of thinking into the Order was giving him. "Go then, young Knight. Much work we still have to do here."

Shaak nodded her head to all of them, and moved off, with Aayla trotting at her heels, anxious to reassure Harry that she was alright.

 **OOOOOOO**

The second moment of 'Potter luck' happened about four months after the Yinchorri situation was dealt with. While Master Fay and Lily were taking a break to really come to grips with a few of their runic experiments Master Fay felt the tug of the Force again, pulling them to a planet called Edusa. There conflict had begun between the human-centric government of the hegemony which ruled this sector of space, and the local species, the Edusans. These were short spiderlike aliens that looked all the world to Lily's eyes like a fantasy character from Forgotten Realms, driders. They had the bottom half of spiders, but the upper body of a human.

 _Some of them are quite cute, in a creepy sort of way,_ she thought, as she and Harry followed Master Fay down the ship's ramp.

These aliens had extremely dexterous hands, having two more finger joints than humans did, but little physical strength. Nonetheless, their grasp of technology was excellent, and the human colonists of this planet had first tried to enslave them to put to work on various projects until they had been overthrown centuries ago. The system was still part of the Cuitric Hegemony, which was very humanocentric and the locals had no space-based military whatsoever. On land they made a formidable guerrilla force however, and there were threats of violence breaking out between the human government for the world and the local populace.

Master Fay however calmed everyone down with her normal aura of control and serenity, literally sending thoughts of peace and destroying thoughts of violence in the minds of the people around her. Lily still wasn't really at home with that, such an advanced Legellimency ability could so easily be manipulated after all, but at least she knew Master Fay would never do such a thing.

The initial talks took some time, during which Harry was put into the position of a gofer, helping his Master find out any information she needed while she engaged with the talks themselves. He also helped with that a time or two, but he really wasn't as at home with talks about laws, economics or other such things.

The talks continued on until Master Fay was able to get the local governor and the local hegemony admiral into the same room to talk face to face.

"Unfortunately Harry, this leaves me telling you that you have the day once more to yourself." Fay said shaking her head with a sigh. "The admiral has requested that only the three of us be within the room, with no aides for either party, the better to cut through normal diplomatic folderol. That includes you I'm afraid."

"And I'd like you Lily to work your way onto the admirals ship if you can." she said looking out over at the Force Ghost. The ship in question was a small cruiser which had set down at the capital's main port several days ago. "The Force is warning me that this is going to go badly, and I'm not certain from which direction."

Lily nodded and both women turned to look at Harry who sheepishly looked away. "But Harry, this time you are going to stay within the palace understand? I don't want you out there will trouble can find you more easily," Fay said, smiling slightly.

"I'm glad you realize I don't go looking for it in turn Master," Harry said with a grin, then leaned up to kiss his mum on the cheek, his lips feeling her almost gaseous skin against his lips for a moment before turning fully incorporeal doing the same to Fay before returning to his studies.

Harry spent most of his time that day exploring. The castle used as the governmental building for his planet was a fascinating ancient building, half human construction, half local, turning the whole into something unique. Hallways could come at you from any direction save directly above you, there were few staircases inside, the walls were covered here and there with excellent human made paintings, and here and there were shapes work into the wall of pastoral scenes and other things of that nature. It was an odd design but it really interesting all the same.

Harry particularly enjoyed some of the scenes from space. He was still training on Master Fay's ship, but she said he had all the reflexes of a born pilot, and he was looking forward to trying out a starfighter someday.

He stopped walking however when he saw a few of the locals with two humans arguing about something pointing into a room ahead of him. "And I tell you, I heard a noise!" said one the locals as he came within hearing of the group. "It came from in there."

"There's nothing in here Dumtrai," said one of the humans, speaking calmly, but looking a little confused.

He exchanged a glance with the other human who shrugged his shoulders. "You know they've got better hearing than we do, longer range or something."

"The term is higher range actually," Harry said, moving towards them with a smile. They all smiled back somewhat nervously having spotted his padawan braid. "Calm down, we Jedi really aren't all that fierce or arrogant, or whatever rumors you've heard about us make us out as." They all nodded, and he went on. "Now what was this about you hearing something?"

"It's like a low hum Master Jedi."

"It's Harry please, or if you need to be formal, Padawan Potter."

"We could shorten that to Peepee?" One of the humans said, smirking.

Harry rolled his eyes, pointing a finger to smack him upside the head with Force, causing the man to jerk sideways for a moment. "I've heard that one far too often thank you."

The man laughed sheepishly, but they all turned back to the local Esulan as Harry asked, "Is it something electrical you think?"

"I don't even know if it's in there, it's really faint, but it wasn't here this morning, that's what grabbed my attention in the first place." Said the nonhuman, shrugging his shoulders and jittering slightly in place, his spider legs tick-tacking on the ground of the hallway.

Harry frowned, looking into the room. "Lights?"

The small room was obviously intended as some kind of viewing platform, with the outer wall opening out into a balcony where people could stare out over the small city beyond. Harry moved in that direction, gesturing the two aliens who had heard the noise towards. "Could it be coming from outside?"

Eventually they discovered that it wasn't coming from that door, but from the window directly below them which led into a storage area. One of the windows had cracked slightly letting the noise out, which was now audible even to human ears when they entered. Harry frowned, gesturing his helpers around. "That hum isn't normal right?"

One of the humans shook his head grimly, already moving to lift a few cargo containers out of the way. "No, it isn't."

"You two find that noise," Harry said crisply to the Edusans, worry solidifying within him as he did. "And whatever you do don't touch whatever is making it!"

With the locals helping, and more help arriving quickly they found what was making that loud throbbing noise quickly, and it was just as Harry had feared, a bomb, slowly cycling up to explosion. Sighing, Harry reached for his communicator. "Master, I hate to tell you this, but trouble seems to have found me anyway."

"It looks like a large scale thermal charge." Master Fay heard from the communicator set on the table in front of her, staring across at the local governor. He actually wasn't titled governor, his title translated to something like 'speaker for the web' or 'singer of the web's consensus' but they had no time to worry about that.

"Now we know why the Admiral was unavoidably detained," she said, subtly looking over at Lily, who had arrived moments ago with the news that the Admiral was in his quarters aboard his ship quickly becoming as sick as a dog. "We will have to question him closely on whether or not this was all contrived, but we will see about that in the future."

"Harry do you think you can diffuse it?" she asked into the communicator as Lily zoomed through the doorway and towards Harry, where she could feel him distantly.

"Yes Master, I think I can. After all," he said his next voice in his own English, a language Lily and Harry had taught Master Fay to serve as a secret language while in public. "I doubt its insides will be able to stand being turned into so much playdough. I'll have to be careful which bit I do that too, but it should be possible."

"Be careful Harry," Fay replied sighing and shaking her head. _I'm afraid that is going to turn into a mantra in the coming years. Having a padawan is proving as worrisome as I feared it might._

Shrugging her shoulders slightly, Master Fay turned her attention back to the local governor. "So, with the belief that the Admiral might be involved in this attack on you and myself, I believe we are well within our rights make an agreement between the two of us without his involvement…"

Thanks to no one actually dying, and Harry successfully stopping the bomb from going off, and her own powers of deduction and ability to ferret out secrets, Fay was able to bring the talks to a peaceful conclusion. The admiral had in fact not been involved, but his second-in-command, apparently on orders from someone in the Cuitric hegemony, had acted to remove the local's leadership. He was remanded into the locals custody, and the admiral, angry at the betrayal, agreed to nearly all of the treaty Fay had worked out with his opposite number.

Master Fay and the two Potters left the planet a week later with peace between the locals and the henchmen once more restored.

These misadventures continued off and on over the next year and a half as Harry grew in both knowledge and power, both formal Force powers, and his own people's Force abilities. But the outcome of these misadventures were such that Fay couldn't really bring herself to say she was sorry to have taken Harry on even if you removed the fact he and Lily were excellent company and her own familial feelings for the pair. She began to call Harry 'the Force's lancer'. He had a way of bringing local problems to the surface like a boil so they could lance them.

His magical aptitude grew by leaps and bounds, and Fay more than once shook her head at how strong he was. He was also more direct combat oriented than Fay herself. But she was able to teach him over the years how not to fight and that empathy and understanding could be a Jedi's greatest weapons.

But eventually Harry did reach the age where a normal initiate would begin to build his own lightsaber. His physical training had continued of course, and they had taken a low powered training saber from the _Explorer_ when they left to train him in the forms. His Force Precognition had grown by leaps and bounds, and his reflexes, physical training and sheer speed were impressive for a youngling his age.

But that wasn't enough, and Fay knew it. Harry needed more formal training especially since after building his lightsaber a regular initiate would begin to learn the specific Forms, building his own style from their teachings.

"The problem," she confided to Lily one night in her room aboard her ship, "Is that I simply am not good enough with a lightsaber to teach Harry, even if I had one myself, which I don't. I haven't practiced with a lightsaber since I became a knight, and that was more than four hundred years ago."

"I wouldn't have thought you a day older than a hundred," Lily teased the other woman from where she was hovering over the tiny cabinet in the room, which contained all the clothing Fay allowed herself, all of them the robes and underclothes of a Jedi, looking exactly the same. Harry's clothing was like that too, though his was grey and white rather than tan and white.

"Still I understand your point, and Yoda and the others impressed me with the combat effectiveness of lightsabers. So, should we let Harry build his lightsaber and then try to find a teacher for him out here, or do it the other way around? Is the Force still telling you that the rest of the Order isn't ready to be shown his abilities?" Lily asked moving over to hover over the bed next to her friend.

"Yes, both the Force and the communications Harry and Aayla have been exchanging over the years. Many of the techniques the clan has shared, changing their hair or skin color, the limited shield spells and the Stupefy technique have gone over well. But there has been some backlash from how interconnected they are, as well as how emotional we allowed them to become before Master Saa dropped them off on Coruscant. Many teachers have tried to change that, and only a few of them have been chosen as padawans by this point."

Aayla was one of those few, Quinlan having been as good as his word and taking her as his padawan a bare week after becoming a knight himself. Despite many masters wanting her to stay to continue teaching the shield technique to others the two of them had left Coruscant quickly on an assignment with Master Tholme.

She and Harry had continued to talk as often as they could over the years, but now that she was no longer on Coruscant with the Temple's Hypercom array the times they could were becoming fewer and farther between. That had Harry somewhat depressed as was the fact he seemed to have reached a wall in his training how to Reach out to the Force to send more information along their link. Fay would be lying if she said that the idea of cheering him up wasn't affecting her decision making when it came to getting Harry further lightsaber training.

"I just don't think the rest of the Order is ready to see what Harry is capable of these days." Fay said with a sigh. "The Order has continued to lose members in trickles here and there, so the utility of the skills the clan is sharing has forced a rethink on many portions of the initiate training. But there is still too much reactionism in the Council of Reassignment, First Knowledge and even the High Council. Yoda has done good work readying the Order for the changes, but even he can only do so much to change centuries of tradition and personal opinion without causing more resentment even among Jedi. The fact that most of them have already said they will take the Old Oath rather than the New is making it worse."

Lily shrugged her shoulders, uncaring of the trials the Order was facing where they didn't impact her son. The Order had a shakeup coming anyway in her opinion. "So if we can't go to Coruscant, what does that leave us?"

Fay fell silent for a time staring unseeing into a hologram of Republic space for a moment. "Serenno," she decided after a moment, the Force helping her to make the decision. "Master Dooku returned to his home system after the Bando Gora had been dealt with and they rescued his former padawan from their foul tortures. He and a Master Unduli who I have never met are both there helping her recover from that ordeal on his family's estates because there are some in the Order who feel that the poor girl went too far into the Dark to be saved."

Looking up at Lily she gave a brief overview of what she knew of both masters. "From what I know either would be a decent teacher for Harry if we can convince them to become so. After they have tested him for a time, he can start making his lightsaber," Fay smiled wryly, shaking her head. "Though somehow I doubt that will be as simple as going to the Crystal Cave and picking out a crystal. Nothing is ever simple with Harry."

"All too true," Lily laughed, before the two of them exited the room to tell Harry the good news.

 **End Chapter**

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed this as much as I had fun writing it!

For those wondering I created the Heruc class Hapan battle-cruisers as the predecessor to the Hapes Nova class, don't read further than that into the name change.

Anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. I enjoyed it as well, but I wanted Harry and co. to grow up, hence me not going into their educational years in detail. I also felt that such education was, by its very nature, repetitive, and thus could be skipped without missing much. That will not be true going forward for the most part, and this will allow me to get to the events of Phantom Menace all the sooner. The next chapter however will allow me to showcase Harry's powers before reaching that timeline.

While this story did not win my poll here or over at my Pat A Tron page, it did come in second in both, with enough points when I added my own votes as author into it to be one of the two stories updated here on fanfic this month. In case anyone is wondering, I give myself 200 votes to use as I see fit. Since I'm the one who does the writing, I feel that's fair. The second story I will update here on fanfic will be the next chapter of Semblance of Hope, which won the poll over on Pat A Tron by a wide margin, and got enough votes here to place it first overall.

If you want to have a larger say in what I write, feel free to head over to Pat A Tron where you will have access to my Ranma/One Piece crossover, and several discussion threads. Going forward I will be changing the polling format slightly both here and there because I am having a lot of fun writing in the SW universe right now, and wish to ride this muse until it's primacy in my mind is taken over by one of my other stories.

Again, hope you all enjoyed this, and as always please review.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Harry Potter or Star Wars.

As I said last month in Horse of the Force, my muse is on a major SW roll which I wish to ride at present, hence why niether SW crossover appeared in March's poll.

This has been big-idea betaed by Kathryn518, **but it has NOT been small mistake betaed!** I have a new dedicated small mistake SW info beta reader, but I finished the chapter and sent it off to him too late to get it back today. If small mistakes bother you, I would suggest waiting until this message disappears!

With that said, and without further ado...

 **Chapter 4 Lessons, Changes, Bonds Rekindled**

* * *

While Harry was apprenticed to Master Fay, the other students of Clan Saa had to go through the normal Jedi Temple education for a time. For most part this was easy for most of them despite the suspicious looks of their fellows. Master T'ra Saa had run a very tight ship after all. Over the years since their arrival they had proven themselves as well as the efficacy and, thanks to Masters Yoda, Saa, and the others, the pedigree of their new techniques. On top of this, and despite the attack on the Temple by the Yinchorri, it was a relatively simple, peaceful time for them all.

Yet if there is such a thing as Potter luck, then Potter luck splashes. When Lady Luck, or the Unifying Force whichever its local name was, goes looking for a chew toy, it routinely chooses either someone with the Potter name or people associated with them for any length of time.

Alecto had never heard Mistress Lily calling Harry's bad luck the Potter Luck. But right now if he'd heard that concept, he would have agreed with it immediately. _Not even a padawan a month and already things have gone wrong!_ The Duros padawan thought as he raced through the corridors of the giant mining complex on Ephelion 6.

He and his Master Sul Ni Thun were here to oversee diplomatic talks to try and broker a peace agreement between the locals and a major corporation, Heavy Metals, which owned the rights to the planet. The planet in question was Ephelion 6, a massive super-dense planet. Almost but not quite a gas giant in size and atmospheric density, it had incredibly large deposits of duralium, alusteel, several of the key minerals needed to create Duraplast, and even more valuable hollinium.

However the conditions on the planet's surface made mining an incredibly expensive undertaking. Building machinery that could withstand the wind, pressure and heat was so expensive it could have soaked up the total GDP of many a planet outside the Core. It had cost so much, and even within the mining complex conditions were so harsh, that Heavy Metals simply couldn't afford to use specially built droids for the job and still make a profit from the complex.

Instead they had hired sentient miners. Yet the conditions they had to work with, and the fact the company had to transport them, plus the companies need to recoup its initial investment had made said company come up with myriad hidden ways to indenture the miners. The low pay, the poor conditions and the fact they weren't guaranteed any pay unless the survived the full two years of their contract allowed the company to treat them more like slaves at times, which, Alecto had discovered, quite a few of them were.

But miners were a fractious lot at the best of times, and most had never taken to the companies games quietly. This resulted in several bloody conflicts in the past fifteen years since the complex had been built. The miners had been oppressed severely several times, their rights as Republic citizens ignored at the whims of Heavy Metals at times. Even when they had won some of those conflicts, the local sector government came down on the side of Heavy Metals, sending in troops to quell the miners, or outright extirpate them, allowing the company to bring in more. After it had recouped its losses in the first ten years of operation Heavy Metals saw no need to change the way it went about its business.

That state of affairs might have continued except that an ex-republic soldier, a veteran of the Kal Huro Unrest signed up for a stint here. Silas Oznic swiftly organized the miners and when the time was right lead them in a swift and effective campaign against their on-planet overseers capturing many of them, a starship, and the shipment the ship was ready to take off-planet with. Said mass of metals was worth several billion credits in value, setting aside the even larger, by an order of magnitude, the price of the actual mining complex. With that done, they had two weeks before the next ship arrived, which they used to fortify the entire mining complex as best they could. The ten km wide and fifteen km longmining complex was now a fort of immense strength. It could be wiped out by orbital bombardment of course but taking it intact would be the next best thing to impossible so long as the miners remained united.

But of course the miners, all 22,000 of them, couldn't last for long. They had rations for six months, but they had no hydroponics section so no way of growing their own food, which of course had been another stick Heavy Metals had used to beat the miners down. The miners however had sent the one ship they had captured directly to Coruscant, demanding their plight be heard by the Senate. If they weren't, they would wait out the six months then blow the complex to kingdom come.

While the Senate dithered and did nothing, the Jedi Order sent in Master Thun and Alecto to make certain that the peace talks that the miners had demanded would occur. Heavy Metals was reluctant to talk, but given the cost of replacing the station, and the PR fallout from the miners on Coruscant, they had to agree.

Yet Master Thun had sensed deception from the HM reps almost immediately, and had tried to press them into admitting they had something else planned. It hadn't worked however, and about two hours after arriving in the mining complex, the 'talks', more argument than actual discourse, the first explosion occurred. This had been immediately followed by a comlink demand that HM give in to the miner's demands or else the whole complex would be destroyed immediately.

Talks had of course stopped, and even with Mater Thun insisting he felt no deception in Silas the HM's local manager tried to break off the talks. Master Thun hadn't let them, insisting on questioning them both about their involvement, which he could as a Jedi. A Jedi's word could be admitted into a court of law as evidence given sufficient cause.

That left it to Alecto to find the bombs going by what the locals could tell them of the most dangerous places, coupled with how far someone could have moved in the time since the HM's ship had entered the docking bay. Four dead miners had also helped point the way.

Alecto skidded to a halt, looking around quickly, then at the scanner in his hand for a moment before choosing a direction down a large corridor dominated by a series of heavy pipes to either side of him. Using the Force to sense anything out of place coupled with a feeling of danger, Alecto quickly found the bomb, placed next to a large gas intake valve. If it had blown, it might have opened up the entire hub he was currently in to the planet's atmosphere.

Using skills Alecto had been taught as a perspective Sentinel he was able to find the proper way to open it, and then to disarm the bomb but as he did Alecto frowned. "This is a rather crude bomb. It would have made a loud bang and flash, but could it cause enough damage to penetrate the gas intake?" He murmured aloud, giving voice to his thoughts in a way that his master would have disapproved of.

After a moment he reached out to the Force to find his master. Something was going on here, and the HM's duplicity in it had to be brought to the surface before it could boil over. At the same time, he tried to sense any danger from any specific area through the Force, not having much luck. Then he found a mind like his own, not in that it was that of a Force sensitive, but that of another Duros. _But I didn't think there were any Duros here…_ As that thought struck Alecto, so too did a sense of danger flash through him from his master, coming through strongly thanks to the master-padawan link.

 **OOOOOOO**

"You cannot say the Miner's demands are unreasonable." Master Thun said. A Given, he had taken everything calmly, analyzing both side's grievances mathematically and had created a broad basis for a fair agreement between the two parties before arriving on site. That the miners hadn't made any truly unlawful demand was a point in their favor. "Indeed, paying for said demands will not cut that far into your profit from this planet, I have calculated it the fifty-second percentile. Indeed, it is you who has been in the wrong from the get-go, despite how you have manipulated the letter of the laws in this sector to favor those contracts of yours. Local conditions here fall well out of bounds for what is lawfully required on hostile worlds."

"If I have to send my findings back to the Senate, your corporation will face tremendously large fines for ignoring Republic law Manager Luten. Indeed, I am almost ready to do so. The only reason I am not is that it would not only hurt your corporation, but your workers on other worlds. But you must bend on your demands to return to the status quo as well." The Given finished, his skeletal-seeming mouth turned down slightly, his 'skin', really the outer layer of an exoskeleton, gleaming in the overhead light.

"Never!" The man, a human of middling height and black hair named Luten, said spitting the words. "We will not give in to terrorist demands! That sets a horrible precedent, as any Jedi should know!"

"I do not see them as dissidents, terrorists or rebellious elements, indeed, that equation does not add up at all." Master Thun said calmly as always. "I see them as workers who have been too long treated like robotic menials. I would urge you to see this as a addition, not a subtraction. The equation is simple: you get out what you put in. The better you treat your workers, the better their working environment, the greater the output of the mines. That is as simple an equation as finding the twelth percentile of the Pythagorean Theorem." This was in fact an insult in true Given fashion: Thun was calling the man an idiot, whose intellect was not the equal of even a Given toddler.

"On the other hand, some your demands, such as receiving a large percentage of the profits, are not mathematically or lawfully feasible. " the Jedi said, turning his attention to the other man. He was a human as well, well-muscled, with heavy scars marking his face, and when he spoke he did so with a distinct Thyferran accent.

"Health services for you and increasing the comfort of your living conditions here is feasible. Your demands about free education for your families and health services for them as well is too far. A small profit-based percentage for miners who reach foreman level and stay on after their initial contract is up and yes we will have a separate neutral party look those over, is possible however. I would say a .0025 percentile of the monthly output multiplied by a factor of five every year for six years would be allowable."

"I am willing to bend from the 15% of the profits, but I will not go lower than five, spread out amongst all the miners. You raise several good points, and I'm smart enough not to argue math with a Given. But the company has always acted as if our lives didn't matter, that they could just bring in more people to replace us at need. Heavy Metals cannot be allowed to think of us as mere tools any longer, or else nothing will change. They have to see us as an integral part of its running, and we want a voice in said running!" Silas replied.

"You signed a **binding contract** , all of you did! The company paid for your training, we bring in your food, we pay for your transportation and your air!" Shouted Luten, standing up abruptly, his thoughts so clouded with anger and disdain for the man across from him they blanketed everything else Thun could sense from the man. "If you no longer want to work fine, we'll even go so far as transporting you and your rebels off-planet… gratis, but we will not bend on any of these points!"

"Gentlemen!" said Master Thun, gesturing them both silent wishing he could simply Force Luten to open up about whatever his company had planned here. But he couldn't, Luten had already protested the Jedi's mere presence. Telling the man Thun had sensed he was planning something would simply set him against the peace process further. _Humans, such an annoyingly illogical species._

"For these talks to go forward, you both have to acknowledge that each of you has good points. The company is indeed the only real source for much of the supplies the miners need to live, and the miners are an integral part of the company, not mindless automatons. If you both agree to my outlined plan, the company will continue to show profit and the survivability of the miners will go up by a factor of 62.9456%," Thun said, still calmly. "I assure you my math is sound across the board…"

At that point an explosion went off in the distance, and Master Thun's eye sockets narrowed. Quickly standing up he pulled out his lightsaber, sending His senses out into the Force. He didn't activate his lightsaber yet, he was a Consular, not a Guardian and this wasn't the time to wave a deadly weapon around. "Calm down sirs!" He said to the two men, both of whom had leapt to their feet, his voice rising for the first time in the meeting. "My padawan will handle it."

Looking at them both, Thun frowned, feeling the honest concern for himself and his followers from Silas and sudden fear and unease coupled with some kind of jubilation from Luten. "For now however, I think these talks should come to an end. Manager Luten, return to your ship. Foreman Silas, if you would follow me we will get you someplace safe just in case."

"Just in case of what?" Luten shouted, scowling angrily. "It's his own damn people blowing up our equipment and property! Yet you want to defend him instead of me? This is blatant Jedi sophistry at its finest, like the Techno Union warned us to expect! I demand you protect me instead!"

"Why would we do that?" Silas bellowed in reply, on Luten quickly. "With the Jedi here to listen to our grievances we have no reason to go that far! No this is no doubt a plant by you to discredit us and our legitimate position! Even Master Thun has said it, we have true and lawful grievances!"

"The Jedi only speak for the Senate, they do not make the law!" Luten roared back.

"And policy is always open for interpretation, just like String Theory." Master Thun said to himself, moving towards the door quickly. "Manager Luten we do not have time for this, I sense danger closing in on us. Let us be off. I would prefer not to be pinned in this room."

While Luten agreed under protest and left quickly with his two bodyguards, Thun and Silas moved off heading for a nearby railcar. They would take it to another part of the complex, one of the strong points the miners had created rather than this area, which they had cleared of their people in order to create a relative neutral ground for the peace talks.

They reached the train tunnel and even called for a train car before Master Thun's Force senses prove to be correct. The bombs had indeed been a feint. The real attack, as his Forces senses had belatedly informed Thun, was on Silas. _Cut off the head, the body dies, an easy equation even a human could do. I had calculated that Luten was contemplating double-dealing, but outright assassination when a Jedi has already arrived on the scene? Hubris, and worse than hubris, a personal arrogance and contempt for the Order is inherent in believing any such calculation can create a positive answer._

So thinking Master Thun twisted to the side, his lightsaber on, beam humming in the narrow corridor as he deflected two blaster bolts that would've taken the manager in the side. Both were astonishingly stun bolts rather than full-powered blasts, but Master Thun's lightsaber absorbed enough of their energy to allow the stun radius to spread to either side of their intended target.

With the instincts of a soldier Silas ducked and rolled into cover by the stopped train car while Master Thun turned that way fully, now having to block a dozen blaster bolts coming at him, grimacing lightly at the exertion. He was a Master of Niman, which was known by more serious combatants as a Jack-of-all-trades yet master of none style. Despite that label it had served him well for years, but the Given found himself sorely pressed by the sheer weight of fire the man stalking towards him was putting out from his two small, heavily modified blaster pistols.

The being racing down the corridor towards Thun and Silas was a Duros like his padawan though at least fifteen, maybe twenty years older. He had light blue skin rather than the normal green and was wearing a long open trench coat, and a wide-brimmed hat. He also wore a mask, and his red eyes gleamed eagerly over the top of it towards the Jedi.

Master Thun recognized him: Cad Bane, one of the better mercenary/bounty hunters out there, certainly one of the top ten operating in the past few years. He was dangerous, deadly, and without scruples for the most part, though this was the first time Master Thun's knew of that he had taken a job that would put him in direct opposition with the Senate or the Jedi Order.

That was all the thinking Thun had time to for. He concentrated fully on his connection to the Force using his precognition instinctively. It wasn't mere speed or skill that allowed a Jedi to deflect blaster bolts, it was the ability to anticipate where the bolts would come from and interpose his lightsaber. Against a single opponent it should have been easy, but Cad Bane randomly changed where he was aiming and had a rate of fire that was simply incredible, forcing Thun to delve deeper into his connection with the Force than he ever had before in a combat situation.

His concentrating on the blaster bolts was why Thun didn't sense Cad Bane had slipped something from one of his ankles. When the object rolled onto the top of his foot, the Duros mercenary kicked it high into the air of the corridor.

Master Thun's eyes flicked to it even as his Force Precognition helped him to block more blaster bolts, grabbing it out of the air with the Force before trying to push it away. But when the flash bang grenade went off he screamed in agony, one hand coming up to cover his eye sockets, his lightsaber form faltering.

In the next instant, blaster bolts burned into Thun's body in multiple places, including one shot right through one of his large, skeletal-like eye sockets. The Given Jedi Master fell back, dead before his body hit the floor of the corridor.

Cad Bane kicked the Jedi's body to the side, one hand pulling out a glue gun, splashing it liberally over his target, who was staring at this Jedi's body in shock, even his soldier's instincts not able to overcome the shock of seeing a Jedi die. Cad was rather amused by that, after all the Jedi were merely mortal. They could be killed just as anyone else. _Admittedly this is the first time I've had to kill one, but I've heard stories about Fett. If he could do it with his bare hands, I at least can do it with my blasters._

"Sorry about this," he said almost conversationally to his bounty, "but someone wants you brought in alive. Probably to make an example of you I'm guessing, but that really doesn't matter to me."

"No!" shouted a voice, and suddenly a red blast of some kind passed right where Cad Bane had just been standing. He had tossed himself backwards at the faint sound of a clang behind him and now turned, pulling out both of his handguns again. Behind him Cad saw the little Jedi padawan charging him from a nearby overhead vent, dropping down and igniting his lightsaber in one motion. The blue of the plasma blade added its own color to the dull light of the train tunnel.

Cad Bane scoffed, shaking his head even as he stood up from his crouch. The boy was a Duros like him, and while Cad didn't have any real scruples, he did somewhat dislike killing his own race. "Back off boy, your Masters dead, what do you think you're going to be able to do?"

Alecto glanced sideways at the body of his Master. Banishing his thoughts of anger and the need for vengeance he raised his lightsaber determinedly sliding into one of the beginning stances of Form three, Soresu. Such emotions would not help him here, though wiping that contemptuous sneer off his opponent's face might. The thought actually brought a grim smirk to Alecto's lips, as he held his lightsaber forward with one hand, his other held slightly back fingers outstretched. "What I have to," he said simply.

"Boy, I only need my target alive not you."

"Good to know!" Alecto said then gestured with his hand. His Master's lightsaber sizzled on again, flipping towards the bounty hunter who ducked under it, firing his handguns, one towards Alecto, the other at the lightsaber. Alecto blocked the bolt coming towards him followed by the next three, watching out of the corner of his as the one bolt fired toward his Master's lightsaber impacted the hilt, shattering it.

Undaunted Alecto charged forward, seemingly intent on closing the distance so that Cad Bane couldn't continue to use his blasters as he had so far. But Cad Bane replied quickly, using one blaster to attack Alecto's legs, and the other to attack his upper body. Needing to defend his entire body from this assault made Alecto stop where he was, his lightsaber flashing quickly. "So it's a question of who gets tired first, my blasters, or your body kid. You should've stepped away when you had the chance."

Alecto elected not to reply, his lightsaber flashing this way and that again and again and again, battering the bolts aside, unable to return them directly to the source without opening himself up to the following bolts. He grunted as one of them got through on his shin, and another in the side. His Force Precognition just wasn't up to this level of fire yet. But he had other tricks to play.

Feeling his opponent was becoming overconfident, Alecto decided it was time to play them once more. When his stunners were dodged and letting his defense falter enough to launch them nearly cost him, Alecto had to turn fully on the defensive. However he decided to do so a bit dramatically. A Force Shield suddenly shimmered in place in front of him, and Alecto molded it around half of his body like a tower shield, absorbingthe blaster bolts.

Cad Bane gaped at the strange apparition, a shimmering golden shield of energy conjured by this callow youth, before pulling out a concussion grenade. He tossed it at the boy, but before it could reach Alecto had grabbed it via the Force, hurling it back at Cad Bane. He ducked underneath it, then his eyes widened and he turned, trying to grab the grenade before it could impact the outer wall of the tunnel directly behind. "NO!"

The bounty hunter couldn't catch the grenade in time, and the grenade exploded on impact with the metal of the tunnels side, which cratered at the explosion. Cad Bane was flung backwards, generally not harmed at first, but even so he had only a moment to scream before the pressure of the planet's atmosphere shattered the weak point in the tunnel. The wind from outside, swirled in and began to tear him apart.

Behind his former opponent Alecto blinked in exhaustion, dropping his lightsaber for a moment as he used both hands to help him direct his shield, enlarging it to cover his entire body and that side of the tunnel as he slowly backed away towards the waiting train car, where Silas had already retreated to, his legs not having been glued together like the rest of him, evidently Cad Bane hadn't wanted to carry him.

Reaching the open door of the train car Alecto fell backwards, and briefly debated trying to summon his lightsaber to him. But he was too exhausted, the strain of keeping up that Force Shield against the massive pressure of the wind on top of his physical battle with Cad Bane having taken its toll. Even as he watched his shield began to shimmer, and he weakly leaned up, pulling his legs in as he did so. Slamming his hand down onto the control of the doorway, he rolled away as it started to shut and his shield failed.

Thankfully as Alecto had known, the train car was rated to handle the same kind of pressure and heat and wind as the tunnel's outer shell in case of decompression. Not that Alecto actually noticed this, too busy slipping into unconsciousness. The last thought going through Alecto's mind as the darkness took him was to thank Harry and Mistress Lily for their lessons. He was still lying there on the floor of the train car when the car pulled into the preprogrammed station and the miners found him and Silas, with his upper body still immobilized.

"…And so Master, after the miners were able to take control of Luten's ship and found some evidence to back up our Force-fed suspicions, I took it upon myself to finish the peace talks." Alecto said later that day, sitting up in a medical bed, his shoulder, side and leg all in casts, visible through the projector apparently as one of the High Council's first question was about his health. An odd thing coming from Jedi, which made Alecto wonder how he looked. He would not have been surprised by the answer: that he looked like death warmed over.

"The miners will get their demands met on local control, better living conditions and the percentage of the profits Master Thun had set out in his outline, as well as safety measures, but they're still tied to HM." Alecto shrugged, wincing as the movement aggravated his injuries. "If they want to make a living here there is no way to get past the fact they still need the parent corporation."

Master Windu bobbed his head in an almost nod. "You went above and beyond what a padawan should have to face young Alecto, well done." He was still a little leery about how many of Clan Saa had already professed that they would be taking the Old Oath rather than the prescribed New Oath, as well as how emotional they all seemed occasionally, but there was no denying the efficacy or their techniques. Indeed, Mace had begun to learn a few of them just like many others. They weren't having much luck, it was a very slow process for the older Jedi, but Master Yoda had learned several of them, so it was possible.

"We will send a ship to pick you up soon," said another Master, staring at Alecto as if she didn't agree with Master Windu's assessment. Master Billaba had spoken up several times as Alecto talked about the agreement he'd basically rammed down HM's throat, which admittedly had very little to do with the laws of the Republic and much more to do with browbeating and blackmailing him with his own mistakes. The evidence that had personally hired Cad Bane for this operation had been telling.

Several other Masters also looked as if they felt Alecto had gone too far, but they were not the ones on the spot, and Master Yoda at least along with surprisingly Master Windu approved if for very different reasons. Master Windu respected the courage Alecto had shown, and was not a fan of large corporations in any event. He believed that the Techno Union, the Trade Federation, and others of that ilk were too powerful already, not considering the fact that seemed to be slowly allying with one another.

Master Yoda's approval on the other hand was for a much simpler reason. He was happy that Alecto was alive, and that the Order wouldn't bury another Jedi today. One was more than enough. "Rest you should," Yoda said nodding his head slowly to the young Duros. "When return, speak further of your training from here on we will. A new Master, we will try to find for you."

"Yes Master Yoda," Alecto said, and watched as the connection ended. Leaning back in his bed he shifted trying to get comfortable, but with his arm in a sling, his leg and side wrapped as they were, that was going to be much more difficult than normal. Closing his eyes, Alecto tried to will himself to sleep, as he thought, _'I wonder how the others are doing?'_

 **OOOOOOO**

Most of the other children of Clan Saa had yet to be chosen as padawans. Many Masters remained leery about their techniques, their attitudes, and the fact that those new techniques sometimes made the Masters feel as if they were playing catch-up to their own students. While Jedi should've been above such feelings, they really weren't. The fact many young knights such as Knight Ti and the others had learned them and used them at times even better than the padawans did not make that problem any better.

There were a few however who had already who had indeed been chosen, and the first of them was not happy at the moment. Not happy at all.

Aayla looked at herself in the mirror and did not even try to keep the scowl on her face as she did, looking at the slave outfit she had to wear. _By the Force, it's more like a barely there bikini than a real outfit! How did I get into this position again?_

 **Flashback:**

Aayla allowed the shock she was feeling to show on her face as she stared at the Masters sitting all around her. "Master, you cannot be serious! You know how I… she paused, gathering herself before going on more calmly. "You know how I loathe being stereotyped as a Twi'lek woman like that! Further, I'm only 15, why would I be sent on a mission like this? Surely there are older knights who could **volunteer** for it."

She didn't even try to keep the sarcastic tone out of her voice, staring at the Masters one after another. Master Gallia met her gaze, sighing faintly and shaking her head, while Master Billabalooked worried but resolute. Master Yaddle looked concerned, but Master Yoda, as well as a few of the others were not there, meeting once more with the Senate on something to do with the Trade Federation.

Master Windu as Master of the order however was, and he was the one who had given her and her master their new assignment. "Quinlan will be nearby, you won't be totally alone," he said, his tone indicating without actually stating it that he was not in the habit of trying to explain the Council's decisions to mere padawans.

Aayla shot a look at her Master, who winced visibly, shaking his head. "I know you don't like it, but this slave operation needs to be shut down quickly. The senator for the Ryloth Sector has been continually banging on about it in the Senate, and it is a rather insidious operation, targeting several hundred planets, planets that…"

"That do not rely on the slave trade for its major export?" Aayla interjected sweetly, her teeth flashing in a not-smile.

Aayla knew Ryloth had no other export that interested anyone else, but the fact that this had basically forced her people into servitude from the moment they tried to expand beyond their planet still bothered her. And she felt that the Jedi should be doing more into looking into a solution to that underlying issue rather than ignoring it and solving the little issues that cropped up from allowing legal slavery just for Ryloth.

"You will be helping hundreds, perhaps thousands of sentients helping us shut this slave operation down Aayla," said Master Gallia, her voice soft but stern.

Aayla stared at her, feeling even more betrayed by Gallia and the other women in the room then she felt from her own Master volunteering her for this. That feeling faded later when she found out Quinlan hadn't actually volunteered her she had been 'volunteered' by the Jedi high Council. "Masters, you do know what happens to female slaves don't you?" She asked, keeping her tone even with a degree of self-control that would have made any Jedi Knight nod appreciatively. "While I of course am able to use the Force to redirect interest, I cannot do it while asleep, nor for days on end."

"Then it is all the more important that you be the one to go," Master Windu said. "Your abilities both defensive and all offensive are based upon your own Force's techniques, not your lightsaber as would be the case with any other Jedi save perhaps Knight Ti, who is currently on a mission on her home planet trying to find the local factor of this very slave ring. Your ability to change your skin tone and your appearance in other ways also makes you the best choice for this operation."

"Again I must protest Masters! For one thing, the Hutts are immune to Mind techniques, and we all know they are almost certainly involved in this in some fashion. Further I cannot use any of my Force abilities save those based on changing my appearance when I'm asleep! This leaves me either having to do without sleep for the duration of this mission, or horribly vulnerable."

"Nevertheless, we have chosen you and your master for this assignment padawan, and you will accept it." Windu said shaking his head.

And that was it, just 'nevertheless'. You couldn't argue with 'nevertheless'!

Her Master however could argue the particulars of the plan, and had.

 **End Flashback**

She looked up as heard the door open, admitting Quinlan and she bowed her head obsequiously. "Is there anything I can do to serve you Master?"

Quinlan shuddered, not just at the fact that she was so much younger than him saying that, or the fact that Aayla's clothing left so little to the imagination. No, he shuddered because he knew Harry Potter would geld him if he ever learned about this, and his equally scary Force Ghost mother would do far worse. He'd seen the way the two of them were around one another, and had even listened in on a few of their talks via Hypercom since.

"Enough of that," he said mildly.

"But I have to stay in character **Master** ," Aayla said somewhat vindictively. "Though I am glad I'm already in the habit of calling you that, Master."

Shaking his head Quinlan looked away, actually voicing his last thoughts. "I really don't want to know what your friend Harry would think about all this."

"No," Aayla said softly, "nor would any of the Council members like it either. Are we nearly there?" she asked brusquely, changing the subject, her skin tone slowly beginning to change from its normal light blue to white mottled here and there with small black dots.

"We're about to come out of hyperspace, that is why I came to get you," Quinlan answered, relieved that they had changed the subject.

The original plan had been for them to start out on Ryloth, letting Aayla joined several dozen other slaves who were supposed to be taken and sold by this illegal group rather than the legal slave trade there. But instead, Quinlan had decided they would first create cover story and back trail, something that had taken them a month in various different Outer Rim systems then insert themselves into one of the planets that was a possible source of the slave trade.

It had been noted that one of the two Hutts operating out of the Tatooine could be involved with the illegal slave trade, though it was the trade back into the Republic that they had to stop, not the trade from Tatooine out into Hutt Space. The Hutts were not answerable to the Republic after all, and the Order had no jurisdiction there. It was the trade into the Republic that was illegal, and the size of the operation that bothered the Twi'lek senator so much.

The two of them would pose as master and slave, with Quinlan of course taking the position as master and a known smuggler out of his home system, with Aayla posing as a regular slave that he had been giving in lieu of a cash payment on his last run. Despite that, Quinlan would endeavor to appear down on his luck, something that was shown in the ship they were using for this mission. Eventually, after a few weeks spent creating a local persona Quinlan might, if they hadn't discovered enough about the slave ring, 'sell' Aayla to Jabba the Hutt to get inside his fortress.

"I'll join you in the cockpit in a moment then Master," Aayla said, looking away for a moment. "I'd, I'd like a few moments to mentally prepare myself for this role."

"Of course," Quinlan said simply, reaching out to touch her shoulder gently before removing his hand and moving back to the entrance of her room. The ship they had was an ancient Corellian tramp freighter, with only a few small rooms for the crew, but the two of them had been able to pilot it well enough on their own, with the aid of an equally ancient astromech droid, who refused to be parted from the ship in any event. Where the Order had come up with the ship Aayla didn't know nor care at present.

With a sigh Aayla made certain that her door was locked, then collapsed into a training pose that would've told anyone who knew anything about her people that she was not a slave as she had thought was posing to be. Putting her hands together, she closed her eyes, concentrating as she reached out into the Force along the connection between herself and Harry. Right now she **needed** that comfort. As she did, she felt Harry's emotions, always the first thing and easiest thing for her to feel. Concern was there, trepidation, but also a tinge of the eagerness. _What is he up to?_

 **OOOOOOO**

Harry looked up for a moment, turning slightly away from where his mother and Master Fay were discussing local politics, his eyes going far away in a way that both women knew meant he was communing with Aayla. The two of them had gotten far better at communicating along their bond over the years, though not up to the level where they could exchange sentences or complex thoughts. Emotions though came through loud and clear, irrespective of distance at this point.

Both women immediately fell silent watching Harry for a moment knowing he was concerned about Aayla. They had been unable to send a message to one another via the Hypercom for over a month now since she and her master were on some undercover mission or other. This wasn't the first time a month had passed before they could communicate via Hypercom, but that didn't stop Harry from being concerned.

Another Jedi Master would've tried to wean Harry away from this connection, fearing it that it would lead to jealousy, fear for Aayla, and other Dark Side emotions, but Master Fay did not. Indeed, she would've laughed at the very idea of trying to. Harry and his bond to Aayla was not something anyone else would ever be able to cut.

"He looks concerned, can you feel anything?" Lily asked Fay, leaning in to whisper into her friend's ear, so close that if she had been alive she would've been breathing on the other woman's earlobe.

The two of them had become very close over the past few years. Indeed they were closer to one another than either of them had ever come to any other person before in their lives, which was admittedly much longer in Fay's case then Lily's. It hurt Lily to think it, but she was in fact closer to Fay then she had been to James when he was alive.

Fay in turn was astonished by how close she had gotten to both Harry and Lily. That very closeness was one of the reasons why Fay had decided long ago not to take a padawan, but now looking back on it she wondered why she had been so concerned about it. Their closeness wasn't a weakness, nor did it impact her ability to be impartial or go about her duties. Instead, that closeness had become a strength. And while she tried to fight it, she had even begun to feel some pride, not in her own deeds which might have led to arrogance, but in how Harry was shaping up, both as a Jedi and as a human being.

"Nothing through the Force in terms of Aayla specifically, not from this range, Lily. Though your belief in my powers is rather flattering," Fay replied dryly, her lips quirking for a moment as she stared up at her friend before turning to look at Harry's face.

"Harry," she said hesitantly as Harry's eyes started to lose their far-away look, reaching over the small table to touch his hand. "Is Aayla all right?"

"She is physically all right," Harry said, coming fully back to the here and now. He turned those emerald eyes of his onto his mother and his master, smiling wanly. "She's feeling a lot of trepidation, a bit of fear and a lot of unease. I think they've just arrived on wherever their mission is supposed to really start. Other than that, I can't seem to get much out of it at this distance. I tried to reassure her, but doing so through emotions rather than words is really difficult. I think it worked but..."

Fay nodded, patting his hand once again. "And does the Force tell you that you should be worried for her? Your connection with Aayla might allow you to sense something even at this distance."

Harry frowned and thought, his eyes once again becoming unfocused as he sent his mind out into the Force. After a moment he came back to the here and now scowling. "I can't seem to tell Master."

"Then leave it for now Harry, remember we have our own mission to take care of." Fay replied. "We must always concentrate on the here and now, and what we can directly effect."

"Well you say mission," Harry said, suddenly grinning at her, "but it's really just me wanting to get more lightsaber training isn't it?" He paused then went on more seriously, squeezing Fay's hand with his own. "I can't thank you enough for this Master. I know using a lightsaber goes against your own principles, and the fact that you bent on this for me means a lot."

Face mouth curved into a gentle smile. "Think nothing of it Harry, your mother and I have had many a long discussion about this, and we've known for a while that you would need more instruction with the lightsaber than I was able to give you. You'll need it I'm certain if you're to keep being the Force's chosen lancer."

Harry blushed, looking away and letting go of Fay's hand. "It's not my fault," he whined before wrinkling his nose at how childish he sounded.

"Was it you or was it someone else who, on a mission to find a droid to fix the ship's plumbing issues, ran into a narcotics ring?" Lily asked sardonically.

Fay took it up quickly as Harry spluttered. "And was it not you who almost absentmindedly foiled a kidnapping attack while looking for a history text in a local library?"

Harry blushed looking away as the two women laughed at him before Fay reached over, pulling Harry's head forward and laying a gentle kiss on his forehead over his lightning bolt scar. She had begun to do that after watching Lily do the same thing for the past few years. She knew that as a Jedi she should be wary of the feelings of attachment and familial affection that she felt to Harry and Lily, but she simply could not understand why at this point. These feelings were so much of the Light that she could not question them any longer.

"Don't worry Harry, we're just teasing you. But truthfully you will need the lightsaber skills. You are touched by the Force and I'm afraid that eventually your combat skills will need to be able to see you through those experiences."

"The Force is doing something on him all right, though If I was to use the touch analogy it would constitute one of those bad touches children are warned about in school," Lily quipped, then both women looked up as a ping echoed from the speakers said in the sitting area. "Looks like we're coming out of hyperspace."

The three of them made their way up to the cockpit of the _Whispering Wind_ , nodding at the brand new astromech droid that they had bought on the last planet. He tootled at them, and Fay nodded. "Well done, Osic, were there any you issues?"

The droid's dome swiveled in the negative, as he rocked in place lightly. All three of its listeners nodded, though Lily looked a little bemused at how much information the droid could impart with those noises of his. Especially to her (not that the droid realized she was there to listen), since she couldn't use the Force as Harry and Fay could to understand another person's language.

Within moments of their arrival in the cockpit the ship came out of hyperspace, orienting itself quickly to Sorenno2. As they did, their ship's scanners began to feel out the surrounding space ways, and Harry whistled slightly. Sorenno was the most earthlike planet they had seen yet in this new galaxy, but that wasn't what he was whistling at. That reaction had been caused by the fleet presence here.

There were literally hundreds of ships in range of their scanners. Most of them were reading as cargo haulers, but there was at least over seventy which were reading as military.

Harry remembered that this planet was known to produce food for several other planets, and had **three** gas giants in the system, which produced orveth and sig gas. These were two types of gas which could be used in blasters large and small the galaxy over. Sorenno also had a few asteroids for heavy metal mining supporting a local but strong shipbuilding industry. In many ways this system was blessed like that, and the Great Counts who ruled it had used those blessings to ride their way into being some of the richest people in the known galaxy despite the number of times those riches had made the system a target of conquest.

"Attention incoming craft, this is Sorenno Space Control, identify yourself." Even as the voice crackled over the intercom, three Cloak Shape starfighters peeled away from the nearest and moved in their direction.

Master Fay calmly picked up the intercom, speaking into it. "This is Jedi Master Fay, here to meet with Master Dooku." Her lips quirked wryly. "You should have me on your schedule, I did after all call ahead."

The three starfighters moved into a formation around the yacht, their wing tips waggling as they did in a gesture of respect. "Roger that Master Fay, we have you on our schedule, you just came in at an odd angle, and we've recently had an attempted pirate raid out there. Apologies for our tone." The man on the other end replied, sounding rather sheepish, but not overly so. He was just doing his job after all.

"No apologies are necessary," Fay replied simply, shaking her head. "I had not realized that piracy was such a danger even here in this system."

"You should probably talk that over with Master Dooku and the other Counts," the voice on the other side said and Fay's eyes widened slightly in surprise and she leaned back looking thoughtful. The way he said that, it sounded as if Master Dooku was acting as a Count as well as a Jedi Master, which was to put it mildly both illegal under the Ruusan Reformation and rather bizarre.

She reached out with the Force as Harry took over the controls, directing the ship to follow the three starfighters towards the planet in the distance, glibly taking over the conversation as well saying his Master had decided he needed more time at the controls suddenly and was now acting as if she was unconscious. The man at the other end chuckled, but Fay only heard this peripherally, while Lily looked at her, concerned at Fay's response to what the man had said and wondering about it.

Reaching out with the Force Fay felt the presence of three other Jedi on the planet, each of them with their own distinct presence in the Force. Master Dooku's was a pillar of steel and iron strength, almost a closed off feeling like she had felt from Mace Windu the one time they met decades ago, but not quite. He felt like a lightsaber blade, sharp and stern but there was a well-hidden warmth to him underneath that. She felt his response to her light touch, as well as his irritation that he could not get away from something that he was doing at the moment to devote more attention to her arrival.

The other two presences were close to one another, and she sensed that they were both out on the planet's ocean somewhere. One of them was younger than the other, possibly only a little older than Lily's physical age. Her Force feeling was weaker by far than either of the other two, but stronger than most her age would've had. Yet at the same time it was far more chaotic, far more emotional. In various ways it felt almost broken, with strange, jagged splashes of pain and a deep well of anger that felt as if it was fading, but slowly. Fay frowned at that feeling, sending a pulse of soothing energy out into the Force to wraparound that feeling, and she felt that source of the Force slowly respond, it's angry edge subsiding somewhat.

The third presence felt that, and Fay smiled gently as she felt that worthy reach out to her in turn, acknowledging Fay's presence as the other two could not. That presence felt almost tranquil, certain and centered in a way that the other two presences didn't quite. It felt strong, though not up to Dooku's level, and also somewhat weary at the moment, though that was carefully hidden.

Master Luminara Unduli sent her regret that she would not be able to meet with Fay immediately, as well as a spurt of interest. Fay felt that Luminara might possibly have felt the Force Ghost that was with the two incoming Jedi. Fay knew her own Force presence tended to cover a lot of Harry's own Force presence since he had learned to hide his under Force Stealth, a fact Fay had actually taken pains to enhance just in case.

By the time Fay had categorized all of the interesting bits of information she could pick up from the three Force users already present, Harry had flown them into the planet's atmosphere and down to a rather neat landing at the capital's spaceport. "Good job Harry!" Lily said appreciatively. "You're getting much better at that, far better than your first time."

"The ship only bounced once mom!" Harry said rolling his eyes. "And we're not under fire this time."

"Those were fireworks, not anti-air fire," Lily said with an amused grin on her face at her rather abashed looking son.

"How was supposed to know!?"

Lily laughed, as did Fay coming out of her meditation. "Come along children, there is someone here to meet us," she said with a smirk at Lily.

"Careful on that ramp Fay, I know how you old people can get sometimes." She snarked back, and Fay chuckled while Harry simply shook his head and followed Fay out the door with Lily bringing up the rear.

One of the locals met them at the end of the ship's ramp. He was a saturnine looking fellow, with long lanky hair and a gaunt face. He bowed fluorescently to the Jedi Master, nodding his head politely to the padawan. "Master Fay, I am Cuso, a castellan of the Count's Council. I regret to tell you that neither Master Dooku nor Master Unduli is able to meet with you immediately. Master Luminara is out on the ocean with young padawan Vosa, and a storm has come up which has forced them to remain out of the harbor for a time. And Master Dooku is in a session with the Counts in the Great Assembly House at the moment discussing our recent pirate problems."

"That is fine, we do not require pomp and ceremony to announce our presence, and we Jedi are servants, not masters." Fay replied simply.

That phrase won her a look from the local, but it wasn't a startled look, rather an upraising one and she wondered why for a moment before putting that thought to one side. "Nonetheless, I am here to answer any questions and to see to your accommodations. If you have any luggage or anything you wish sent to Master Dooku's estate, where he Master Unduli and Knight Vosa are currently living I can see to that immediately. Or if you yourselves would like to be taken there right away we can see to that as well."

"We have nothing of that sort, although if you could see to it that our astromech is sent there as well as giving an update on the local astrogation issues including the sites of these pirate attacks I would be most appreciative. And I think we will wait to see Master Dooku here. He and the Counts might decide they need another Jedi's perspective." Fay replied.

"Of course," the man said clicking his fingers and two other men dressed in spacer's coveralls moved towards the ship. The Astromech droid willingly went with the men. "I would warn your men not to try to enter our ship while we are gone Cuso, we have several security devices set up. I'm afraid after a few of our recent missions we have become somewhat paranoid," Fay warned, mixing truth with deception in a way that made her somewhat uncomfortable, but it was better than the alternative. The security runes that Lily and Fay had been working on lately worked a treat, but they were not nearly as selective in their response as the two women could wish.

"Of course Master. If you come from the Outer Rim, such a thing should be assumed."

"Indeed." Fay said following the man as Harry fell into step beside her. He engaged the man in conversation asking Cuso about the local economy and the foodstuffs that had initially made the planet so important in its sector.

The man replied quickly and easily, looking at the young human teen askance. Those emerald eyes of his were rather off-putting at first they were so bright and green color was an unusual one on Sorenno. The questions were also strangely unusual from a Jedi, which Cuso commented on. "Food is often not an issue Jedi concern themselves with, indeed your austerity in that area is a sign of self-control and austerity that we normal folk can only respect."

"Everyone has their little foibles I suppose, food is one of mine," Harry said with a shrug. "I like to think of myself as a cook, and it's proven itself useful occasionally."

The man nodded politely, and continued to direct the party forward out of the small but extremely well-appointed landing area and out past them into Carrania. After a short car ride they were led into a large, almost Grecian looking building and then to a waiting area outside a large meeting room with two large doors leading into it made of a deep, dark brown wood with interesting striations of light yellow showing here and there. Through the wood the Jedi could hear the murmur of voices. Harry walked around the area, taking in the art on the walls and staring out the open windows with Lily, as Fay took a seat, folding her hands together as she waited calmly.

 **OOOOOOO**

For a few moments it was all Dooku could do to split his attention between what was being said in front of him and the feeling in the Force of the new arrivals. Fay's presence was like a wave of serenity in the Force all around her, encapsulating the entire system like a fog. It was potent but diffuse and a sign of both her power and personality.

The boy with her, the touch in the Force was both distinctly masculine and young, to Dooku senses, was controlled, extremely so, Dooku couldn't get a read on it at this distance. _Interesting, this must be young Harry, the one she radioed about._ That was all his Force senses could tell of the two arrivals without Dooku actually consciously directing them, and he couldn't do that and listen in on the conversation in front of him at the same time.

The crux of this meeting was the need to create anti-pirate patrols, what type, how large, and how far away from Sorenno they could operate without the Senate both hearing and bleating about it. There was also concern about the militarization of the Trade Federation, which continued to accelerate. The Trade Federation was a partner of some local Sorenno corporations, but in other ways they were competitors, hence the concern.

Trade was the backbone of the Six Great Houses. They had controlling interest in the local economy of course, which was based on agriculture and the three gas giants' output, which would make them rich here in this sector. But it had been how they had brokered those local goods into trade elsewhere that made him rich even by galactic standards.

Indeed, though the Core Worlds did not realize it Sorenno was actually wealthier and more powerful financially then any two systems outside of the so-called Big Big Five were the most **financially** powerful single systems in the Republic, Coruscant, Corellia, Alderaan, Kuat and Fondor. Coruscant was of course the most important system in the entire galaxy. Corellia, Kuat and Fondor were ship-building giants. Alderaan and its colonies, all of whom still answered to their mother planet, were rich in mineral and agricultural wealth.

A few moments more discussion went by about whether or not they should create their own anti-pirate force, what their public stance on that would be. Two of the counts voiced concern over how the Senate would react to their following the Trade Fleet into becoming more militarized, only to be nearly shouted down by their fellows. The idea that they should worry about the Republic's or more likely the Senate's reaction to their creating anti-pirate fleets might have been enough to cause a fist fight if not for Dooku's presence.

Sorenno was almost militantly independent, and did not like even the fact they had to answer to the Sector capital let alone the Republic. This attitude harkened back to a time when the planet had been invaded by Sith during the Great Galactic War and again during the New Sith War. The locals valued their independence, and would fight for it at a drop of a hat.

"I believe that we need to bring in a far more neutral individual then you believe myself to be," Dooku said after that slightly more acrimonious then was polite exchange. "Luckily for us, we have such an individual on hand. Master Fay," he said, reaching out with the Force to open the doors, "would you join us please."

A second later it was all Dooku could do to stop his voice from stuttering to a halt as he forced his jaw not to unhinge at the sight of the Force Ghost apparently reading something over the young padawan's shoulder. Dooku noted absentmindedly that it was one of the local travel brochures, but that was about the last thing he had on his mind at the moment.

She was gorgeous, a beautiful young woman who looked a little younger than his former padawan was when she became a knight. At least when she had died anyway who knew how long she had been a ghost? She had bright red hair, not the orange normal people associated with the idea of red hair, flowing down her back in a cascade. She had the same emerald eyes as the teen, who had to be her son or other descendent with those eyes. Her face had a pale tone to it, and her body was lithe and desirable, and admittedly showed off to good effect with what she was wearing a moment.

 _There must be a tale about that, unless it's as simple as Force Ghosts not being able to change their clothing after they have died,_ he mused to himself, then turned his attention on the boy who was just as interesting in a way. He had stood up with Master Fay and was making his way forward, and the young teen met the older man's eyes for a moment until Dooku nodded his head and the padawan bowed formally. _Interesting_ Dooku thought to himself, _and those emerald eyes of his, a potent tool those._

That thought was caused by the gasps of two of the count's daughters, here as their heirs. One was a married woman, the other a girl of twenty, but both blushed as they saw the padawan's eyes and face.

Dooku however noticed the boy was well balanced, poised on his feet, his eyes tracking from side to side, almost automatically after breaking eye contact with Dooku. He had no lightsaber at his side however, nor did Fay. Leaning back Dooku mused, _now I understand why she has come here I think._ T _hough why Master Fay is willing to go against her own beliefs to get her padawan training with a lightsaber is beyond me a present. But his Force presence!_

At this distance, Dooku's Force sense could get a glimpse of the boy's Force presence under his Force Stealth and, Dooku realized, the enveloping feeling of Fay's own aura. He blazed with the Force and the Light in a way that Dooku had only ever seen in Master Yoda. The youth was nowhere as controlled, but possibly even more powerful than his former master.

Yet Dooku let none of these observations show on his face or in his voice as the newcomers crossed the intervening space between the table where the counts were sitting and the large doors. "Gentleman, may I present Jedi Master Fay and her padawan…"

He trailed off and Master Fay smiled, putting her hands together in her Jedi robe as she tilted her head slightly to her padawan, who stood a respectful half pace behind and to the left of her. "This is padawan Harry Potter."

One of counts heirs standing behind the table, a young boy of about 10, muttered something about "Peepee?" And was quickly hushed by his neighbor.

Harry however simply rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Wow that's a new one, I haven't heard that before."

Dooku sighed, looking at the younger boy who looked rather abashed as his father turned a stern eye on him.

Next to Harry Master Fay chuckled quietly. "Do not worry young one," she said kindly, looking at the now embarrassed boy. "Our dignity is not so fragile as all that. I believe however you were having a discussion? That you apparently want my input on?"

Master Dooku gestured to Count Luther, whose holdings had been hit the most by the pirates. The younger man, he was at least fifteen years younger than Dooku, nodded his head respectfully to the Jedi, before filling in Master Fay on the incidents that occurred recently while he tried not to stare at her beauty.

Master Fay broke in occasionally to ask questions, and Dooku obligingly brought up a map of this system sector, highlighting the places where the Pirates had attacked. He watched with approval as Harry leaned in, listening intently and even the Force Ghost looked as if she was taking it in murmuring something in a language he didn't understand to the boy, who did not answer verbally with other people around. _Good_ Dooku thought, rather amused. _The last thing we would need is some people questioning whether or not the young padawan is sane._

Master Fay eventually sighed, leaning back from her chair and shaking her head. "Five attacks of that severity, with that many deaths? I apologize, I had not realized that pirates were that bad in this sector."

"You could not have known milady," count Luther replied gallantly, bowing his head formally to her from where he sat. "We have heard of you, indeed you would be hard-pressed to find a system government in the Outer or Mid Rim that hasn't heard rumors of the great Jedi Master Fay and her ability to quell violence and end conflicts. But I do not know if even your abilities would be able to do anything about this."

"Not unless we can find a single pirate base," Harry mused thoughtfully, before nodding his head politely to count Grimaldi, who had been controlling the hologram device for a few moments. "May I?"

The older man nodded his head, leaning back as Harry began to manipulate it, changing the view here and there as if he was searching for a pattern, not just with his physical senses but with the Force. "I did the same thing padawan," Dooku said with a shrug. "Yes, if the pirates had a single base a short sharp campaign would see them off, but I'm afraid I wasn't able to find any kind of pattern. Worse, the attackers might not all be pirates. Some could be ships from other sectors, poorer sectors admittedly, raiding our commerce because they have needs their own cannot meet. Privateers I believe the term is."

Harry grimaced, leaning back and frowning thoughtfully as he touched that odd looking scar on his forehead.

At the same time Master Fay's quiet voice brought everyone's attention back to her as she sighed, sadly. "I am a Jedi of peace. I am not a Guardian or a sentinel I am a Consular. I do not even have a lightsaber to my name. I refuse to believe that conflict, combat, should ever be a first recourse."

She inhaled deeply before going on. "That being said, the pirates are obviously a real issue and even I know that conflict between the different segments of the Republic are real. I think that those differences could still be worked out through dialogue, but **not** pirates. With that in mind, you must see to your own people I believe."

More than one of the counts' faces went still in shock, staring from Dooku to the new Master. Dooku allowed a wintry sort of smile to cross his face, and said blithely "Yes, but the Republic Senate has been death on that kind of thing for centuries. We have no local societal reason to have a large offensive military like that, and there have been other systems and sectors that have been smacked down for trying to build their own fleets.

"Even Corellia isn't allowed to create an offensive fleet." Said one of the as-yet unintroduced counts, his voice that of someone with an ancient bone to grind. "This despite Republic laws allowing them to build those monstrous in-system defense ships of theirs."

"Then I think the Senate should not have agreed to allow the Trade Federation to arm itself," Harry said with a frown, looking up from his work on the hologram. "That set a bad precedent, even I know that. And the Trade Federation is also already an offensive force with those giant ships of theirs, I'm sorry I can't remember the name of them, and the number of fighters they can transship. So long as you don't robotize your military to that extent, I fail to see how the Senate would be able to make more than grumbling noises. Peace is all well and good," he said with a quirky smile towards his Master, who chuckled, shaking her head at what was obviously an old argument between them. "But the ideal of peace can be taken too far: you need some steel to back it up."

More than one of the counts chuckled at that, and Dooku raised his hand in the ancient gesture of a fencer acknowledging a touch.

"So long as you don't raise land troops, the factions within the Senate will not be able to stop you from creating your anti-pirate fleet. But I would recommend that you keep your number of offensive capital ships to a minimum just for the appearance of things," Master Fay said shrugging her shoulders. "Other than that, I'm afraid I am not the Jedi Master you need to ask questions about military things."

"I on the other hand am," Dooku said leaning forward intently. "My own recommendation as you will all remember, was to create a small extremely elite pilot corps, along with locally built starfighters. Take some of the designs coming out of Kuat to start, and build on them." His eyes locked on a few of the counts, who had wanted to build capital ships rather than starfighters. "Starfighters, backed by system patrol ships can handle the pirate menace without being seen as a danger by our neighbors. This needs to be both a show of strength and restraint, a rapier rather than a broadsword."

They all nodded their heads agreeably, won over to his argument by the newcomers and their sudden backing of it.

The conversation continued from there, though Harry did not take part, having provided what Dooku mentally labeled as the voice of the youthful outsider already. He did however notice the boy going over the hologram, still looking for a pattern for some reason. He was also writing something down on a small data pad, with his mother, grandmother, something other or other looking over his shoulder and whispering in that language in his ear. He was apparently nodding to himself as far as the counts knew, and Dooku had to fight back an amused smirk at the duplicity the two were showing. Evidently this wasn't the first time the two of them had done this little act.

A few moments later, the discussion ended, and the counts including Dooku stood up, shaking hands formally. Harry quickly got to his feet, moving around to help his Master to her feet, despite the fact that Fay obviously didn't need it, a courtly gesture that won many smiles from the counts and a flush from the twenty something heiress, who, Dooku now remembered, had a rather serious suitor somewhere around the place. The boy had a sort of understated charisma to him Dooku thought, again amused.

As the last of the counts left, Dooku turned to Master Fay gesturing with one hand for the newcomers to follow him. "We will talk in a moment," he said simply, looking from the two physical people up to the Force Ghost, who smirked at him before bowing in the Jedi manner while still hovering in midair.

Dooku felt his lips quirk upwards and he wondered about his odd humor at the moment. _Perhaps Master Fay's presence is not just soothing, but somewhat uplifting. My mood has certainly changed for the better since their arrival._ Part of Dooku wanted to resent that, but for the most part he was willing to simply let the effect wash over him.

The Jedi were silent for a few moments as they walked heading towards another landing day, before Dooku looked over at Master Fay. "We will have to call the Temple about this. I was assigned to that discussion because I was already here of course, but Yoda and the High Council will be interested in what went on. The pirates are a major issue throughout this sector. And I also have some friends in the Senate that probably need to be warned."

"I should probably check in with Master Yoda in any event," Master Fay replied with a slight twitch of her shoulders. "After that however, I would like to get to the reason why my padawan and I are here."

"Lightsaber training," Dooku said with a nod, and Master Fay's lips quirked into a smile as she nodded her head at the other Jedi's perspicacity. Dooku turned his attention to the young boy, who had remained behind Master Fay as respectfully as possible, and again the two of them locked eyes. After a moment the boys again bowed his head, and Dooku nodded. "We will see on that. But let us get the more onerous duties finished before the more pleasant ones."

A moment later, Master Dooku sat in one of the secure Hypercom link rooms within the Count's discussion hall. Master Fay stood beside him for now, while Harry and the Force Ghost remained outside. As they were waiting for to link up, Dooku cocked his head. "I will wait to ask more questions, but one just occurred to me pertinent to the moment. Can Force Ghost appear through digital technology?"

"No," Master Fay said with a shake of her head. "We can't hear Lily through communication devices either."

Dooku nodded filing the Force Ghost's name away.

That brief moment of byplay had taken enough time for the Temple to open the link on its end, and the image of the High Council appeared an instant later. "Masters," Dooku said nodding his head to Master Yoda and Master Windu before nodding his head slightly more formally to a few of the others. He respected many of the High Council, but there were a few that he felt were … ill chosen. He respected their abilities in the social sector and politics, but he felt that the High Council all too often reached a consensus by simply following whoever was first to speak rather than open debate.

Although thanks to Master Yoda, that had been changing of late, and the debates had become much more freewheeling since his return from the _Explorer_ years ago. Now there seemed to be some kind of tension apparent in the High Council, coming to the fore whenever the younglings of Clan Saa were brought up or the abilities they, Yoda and their other teachers, were disseminating throughout the Order.

"Padawan," Master Yoda said, nodding his head, watching his former padawan for the little twitch of the eyebrow that he always got when he addressed Dooku that way. Master Dooku had several issues, and one of them was a bit of hubris, which Master Yoda felt it incumbent upon himself to tweak occasionally. To his surprise however his padawan did not rise to the jibe, but then Master Yoda saw Master Fay standing behind him, and had to force his face to not shift into a beaming expression at her presence. "Discussions among the counts you have been a part of, decision reached there has been?"

"I trust they understand that they cannot be allowed to arm themselves further," said one of the other Masters, shaking his head. "We are having enough issues with the Trade Federation, we do not need other separate groups militarizing themselves in the Outer Rim. I'm certain the Order can handle these pirates. All we need to do is find their base."

"That is strange," Dooku said softly, and Master Yoda and Master both held back winces. "I seem to have dialed the Senate's Hypercom address rather than the Jedi Order's. Very odd indeed."

"You know what I mean," said the same Master, Yarael Pouf, replied. He was one of the ones that Dooku felt was a little too quick to back the Senate line. That he had also been one of those who had tried to blame Dooku for the debacle with the Order's intervention into the Mandalorian Civil War was also something between the two of them.

"It is not illegal, nor is it an issue the Order needs to care about so long as Sorenno realizes that any offensive act against any of its neighbors will cause us to take action against them. Starfighters alone will not be able to conquer any of their neighbors, and that is all that we need to consider, which was why Master Dooku and myself wrote up the outline for the anti-pirate force we did." Master Windu said smoothly, cutting off his friend with a gentle gesture of his hand and looking past Master Dooku to Master Fay. "Master Fay," he said, nodding his head. "I do not know if you remember me, I was a young initiate the last time we met."

"And now you are Master of the Order," Master Fay said with a faint twitch of her lips. "How time does fly."

Something about those words caused Master Mace to twitch a little, as Yoda and Yaddle both chuckled in the manner of their species. "Yes well, can we ask what vagaries of the Force brought you to Sorenno?"

"A desire to help young the young Knight Komari Vosa. I am after all uniquely suited to help in that area." Fay replied.

"So it is nothing to do with your eat mysterious padawan?" Master Windu asked archly regaining his equilibrium quickly.

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Master Fay said serenely, letting the man's judging glare wash over her like so much mist.

"Question Master Fay we will not," Master Yoda said complacently, but with steel in his voice, as Master Giiett nodded just as firmly. Years had gone by, but he well remembered Harry Potter and his mother and knew what their powers had done for the Order, oh yes. "Her padawan's training, her own responsibility it is. Good it is to see you again, several years it has been Master Fay."

Yoda stared through the hologram at Master Fay who fell silent, the two of them communing somehow, which the other Masters, even Dooku and Windu, could not quite follow or feel. At last Yoda smiled widely, as did Master Fay. "Speak more we will if meet in person we can, many of the techniques, received well they have been."

"I know Yoda, and I have a few others that might be received just as well now," Master Fay said smiling lightly.

A few of the Masters on the other end of the Hypercom shifted uncomfortably. Only a few of them had been able to re-create the techniques Master Micah and Yoda had been able to, though far more knights and padawans could use them, and a few of them had even begun to branch out, creating their own variations of the known techniques. The Council of First Knowledge was having fits, Jedi style of course, because of that.

Windu too had issues with the new techniques, though mostly he had issues with the youngling who had been taught them, they were all far too emotional in his opinion. But this was not a time for that discussion or the discussion of where the new techniques had come from. "Perhaps we could get back to the original topic?" he asked, and Yoda nodded.

That discussion continued for a time. The High Council had not been happy for the solution Dooku and Windu had pushed for. Nor that Dooku, who had a personal connection to Sorenno, had been assigned to the debate. It smacked far too much of collusion to them, and of going around the Senate and its prerogatives. But Dooku had long wanted to see the Order distance itself from the Senate, and Windu was worried about the uptick in violent missions, pirate activity and, though no one outside the Order knew it, the rising power of the Dark Side. With the two of them, backed by Yoda, Yaddle and a few others, Master Pouf and the Pro-Senate faction could gain no headway.

A moment later the call ended, and Fay left quietly, having no wish to speak or be seen by any Senator. She had long disliked the Senate and its long-distance rule, which attempted to centralize control of the Republic in such a way that was at best unfeeling, at worse hopelessly corrupt.

Dooku felt much the same, thought he actually had a few friends among the Senators, and had more concentrated on how stagnant the Order had become, something that had changed with Yoda's return to Coruscant. Indeed, though no one knew it, before the new techniques had been introduced Dooku had been searching for knowledge of the Sith, believing that conflict with the Sith would force the Order to start growing again. But since the new techniques had started to spread, the impetus behind that idea had faded swiftly, though he still had issues with how the Order was more an extension of the Senate than a separate entity.

After Fay left the room Dookuhe called his friends one after another, ending with the Senator of Naboo, Sheev Palpatine. The two of them were not close, but they had similar thoughts on the Senate's immense and cumbersome bureaucracy, and Sheev was well thought of in the halls of the Senate.

They talked for a while, with Dooku commiserating with the man over the recent Eriadu debacle, which he had tried to push forward, and the death of his king recently. "But you didn't call just to hear me up moan about my fellow Senators inability to act like intelligent moral individuals, nor even my own personal loss, thankful though I am for your sympathy" the man said after about fifteen minutes. "What is going on my friend?"

"You are unfortunately correct. The Issues with piracy that were one of the reasons the Eriadu Trade Conference had been called in the first place has also begun to be a problem here in the D'astan sector. And The Council of Counts has decided how to respond." Dooku replied.

The man winced shaking his head. "Sorenno has also decided to militarize then?"

"In a way yes. No capital ships will be built, but a starfighter corps will be raised trained and armed to go after the Pirates."

"I see," the man said with a sigh.

 **OOOOOOO**

On the other end of the Hypercom Darth Sidious, or Sheev Palpatine as his public persona was called, had to hide a frown. Sorenno had been supposed to build a large fleet, with at least a few capital ships. Yes, they didn't really need that many of them, but such a fleet would have fed a sense of superiority and make their Counts start to act aggressively in patrolling their own sector, as well as its neighbors. This would have given rise to further tension, not least of which because those sectors would have been shown to not be able to look after themselves.

This however, a starfighter brigade was precisely what they needed to hunt down pirates, but wasn't what he had hoped for. His and his master's inability to further influence Dooku into the Dark Side for the past few years was telling here, in a way he had not foreseen. Dooku's arrogant personality should have made him want to back Sorenno overawing their opponents and feed the Sorenno's need for independence, but it looked as if Dooku's tactical acumen had trumped his arrogance.

Yet in the end, it was a small issue. Dooku's removal from Coruscant, as well as his still growing, if far more slowly than before, dissatisfaction with the Order would still serve, even if he did not fall to the Dark as Sidious had hoped. Maul was after all no true apprentice, and Sidious could foresee a time when he would need a public enemy for the Great Plan.

 _And for now I can still twist this to my own interests in the Senate._ "I will try to pave the way for this announcement, and get with the sector Senator on it when I can start. Alderaan and many of the other factions will not be pleased though."

Dooku gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "I am uncertain about the sector Senator, not having met him myself. We might be able to work a deal with him, though I will leave that to the other Counts of course as I was only acting as a moderator for this discussion."

"Of course, we can't have Jedi actually making decisions can we? Especially ones which most serve the greater good… that would be wrong." Sheev replied dryly and Dooku chuckled, after which the two amicably ended the discussion.

After the com cut off Sidious leaned back in his chair, it wouldn't do after all to call it a throne, not yet, frowning thoughtfully. Thanks to the ongoing work on the Dark Side of the Veil not having been finished just yet, Sidious still had to be very careful about reaching out to the Force at that far a distance, lest some of the Masters on Coruscant sense it. Master Yoda in particular was very good at that kind of thing, but not good enough.

 _There was something there, something in Dooku's voice, some presence on the planet be above and beyond the three Jedi that should've been there. Two other Jedi, whose presence I have not felt personally, though the one… Could that be Master Fay? She is dangerous. If more of the Jedi were like her, I would never be able to work up the necessary hatred amongst the public for the Grand Plan to work. Her presence there is hazardous for my plans for Dooku even if he does not fall to the Dark. Perhaps steps need to be taken. I'll have to consider that, and discuss it with Plagueis._

Sidious sneered a moment thinking of his Master. Soon it would be time to remove him, but not just yet. Plagueis needed to finish the work on the Dark Side of the Veil, the work of which had been slowed considerably these past few years as he fine-tuned it to recent strange changes in the Unifying Force of the galaxy. But soon, soon Plagueis would be superfluous to the Grand Plan. Sidious would make his death quick at the very least. He would die without knowing he had been supplanted, a small bit of mercy to the man who taught Sidious so much who had helped him find his destiny.

 **OOOOOOO**

Moments after Master Dooku cut that connection, he caught up with Master Fay, her young padawan and the Force Ghost, who had stopped to look out over Carrania taking in the view. He gestured them to follow him, and they boarded a small square sided shuttle. As they were lifting off, Master Fay immediately turned to Dooku. "Can I ask what you're role was in that discussion?"

"If by that you mean was I acting as a Count, I was not, though I am the last of my family. The retainers have kept up everything, and our family's holdings are still as powerful as they ever were." Dooku sighed, leaning back. "Between us, I do not know if I will continue to act as a Jedi, I have long been of the opinion that the Council is too quick to back the Senate line despite what might or might not be right and wrong in any given assignment. The Senate has been the cause of many a Jedi's death due to lack of information. In recent years it has begun to get worse, and the High Council is either blind, or too wedded to the status quo to see it. Much has changed in recent years I will admit, making me believe the Order can grow beyond what it is now to match the changing universe, but our ties to the Senate are still too strong."

Master Fay sighed. "It would be a sad day for the Order if you left it, but I would understand. I, as you know, do not follow the Council's orders, I go where the Force wills me."

"And it has willed you here, or rather your own concerns for the future has," Dooku said nodding. "To get your young padawan trained in the lightsaber."

"Indeed. And in return, I will help Master Luminara with your former padawan. What is your role in the healing process going forward? I was surprised to not find the two of you together with young Vosa."

Dooku winced, looking away as if he was embarrassed about something, which he was. "I unfortunately can only help her healing in a very hands-off manner. You see, the reason why she had volunteered to go on the initial mission against the Bando Gora at all was to prove to that she was worthy of my… attention."

Master Fay blinked not understanding while Lily gasped. "She fell in love with you?" The ghost asked in Galactic Standard.

Dooku looked at her, a faint sad frown on his face. "So you do speak Galactic Standard, that's good to know. I have many questions about you milady, and your… son?" Lily nodded, and Dooku went on. "But yes. I will admit that I was not kind when I brushed her off. I thought it was simply a childish infatuation, and I am still of that opinion, but as I said, I was not understanding about it."

He admitted to his past mistake easily, as one would with something he had forced himself to face several times. "Komari went on that mission, and was captured by the Bando Gora where she was tortured in many ways. I blame myself for that, and so did she in several ways. So while I have given her sanctuary in my house along with Master Unduli, I am afraid that in terms of aiding the healing, I am involved only peripherally."

"I will talk to Luminara about it then," Master Fay said, shaking her head slightly at the idea of a padawan falling in love with his or her Master.

To the side Harry looked away quickly, unwilling to comment on this discussion at all. Harry would be the first to admit that he'd gone through a stage at one point where he thought Master Fay was intensely attractive, but his connection with Aayla had stopped that from going further than a simple appreciation.

"So you wish to be trained in the lightsaber." Dooku said, bringing Harry's mind back to the present with a bump. "Have you decided on your forms yet?"

"I have studied the basic style of Shii Cho Master, but as Master Fay has said, I have not yet created my own lightsaber, and I was basically trained by vid and other teaching aids that we brought along."

"That is not good," Dooku said mildly though his lips twisted into an almost contemptuous sneer. "Shii Cho is called the basic style because while several of its moves and stances underpin all others, it is simplistic, with nothing to really set it apart or above. If I train you, it will be in form two, Makashi, the dueling style which is my own."

"As I said Master I have studied what is written about the forms, as well as their basic philosophies, and I understand Makashi is your preference. It is certainly the most elegant of the styles, but I would prefer to create my own hybrid style from all the various forms. "

"Most Masters do, do you think my style is the same as someone else's? No it is not. But you have to understand your own innate combat philosophy first, then match that philosophy to a style. I suppose as Master Fay's padawan you would probably be better with Niman?" Dooku almost but did not quite sneer as he mentioned Form 6.

"I doubt it actually Master Dooku," Harry said politely, shaking his head as he contradicted the other man. "Master Fay and I have discussed many things in our time together, and one of the things we have discussed is that my own philosophy is not similar to hers in many aspects. I'm more than willing to talk and use discussion to head off issues or bring them to a close, but I'm also much more willing to go the way of the Guardian rather than Consular."

"Interesting," Dooku said still mildly, though he was looking at Harry thoughtfully. "We will test you both Luminara of myself then. She and my former padawan Vosa should be back by the time we arrive despite the squall they accidentally journeyed into." Dooku allowed a wintry smile to appear on his face. "I may say accidentally, but I'm certain that Luminara wanted to use the storm as some kind of visual aid for the girl, though what kind is beyond me, I am not a Mind Healer."

Unduli and Vosa were waiting for them at Master Dooku's residence by the time they arrived. The residence was a small manor estate, situated high in the hills overlooking a placid lake which the family owned, as well as two large farming houses. The manner itself was a six-story tall house with two wings leading off a large domed building in the center, the totality looking like a V with a large dot on the top where the lines came together from above. There was a large garden around it with the landing pad for the shuttle situated not in the center of the V, but along the walk path up to the main doorway.

Dooku nodded his head respectfully to Master Fay, watching as Lily followed the woman out, wanting to watch Master Unduli and Vosa is reaction to the Force Ghost. He still had a lot of questions for Lily, her son and Master Fay, but they could wait until they were in a more comfortable and private place than his family's shuttle.

Despite Luminara's great self-control she actually stumbled slightly as she moved towards the newcomers, staring at the Force Ghost. _I am most glad I wasn't the only one,_ Dooku thought to himself.

Master Fay bowed her head to Master Unduli and young Komari Vosa, smiling at them both. Vosa nodded to her, stared at the Force Ghost then concentrated on Harry, taking in his youth and the sense of him in the Force for a moment before looking at her Master.

"Master Unduli, I have heard much of your ability to heal the spirit as well as your lightsaber skills and ability to read the Force," Master Fay said, holding up her hand in formal greeting.

"As I have of yours Master Fay," Luminara said politely, her own hand rising in turn, almost as if the two women had not gotten the measure of one another through the Force earlier that day. Other people when meeting for the first time would've shaken hands or done their species equivalent at meeting someone in person for the first time, but Jedi did not do that kind of thing. "And who is this?" she asked, gesturing to the Force Ghost. "I must admit to never having truly believed Force Ghosts were real."

"Lily Potter and I'm real enough, though how I became a Force Ghost is nothing I would wish anyone else to have to go to meet you." Lily said for herself, smirking at the older woman.

Luminara was a Miralian with whose habitual green skin and black lips set them apart from humanity. She also had an odd tattoo consisting of numerous black dots on her chin. Her robes looked more personalized than Fay's or most other Jedi Lily had seen, but she also wore an odd headdress that added to her already decent height.

"Padawan Harry Potter." Harry supplied, bowing in turn.

Fay watched Lily and Harry greet Luminara out of the corner of her eyes, but her own attention was concentrated on the young knight following Luminara. Luminara Unduli was not as good a physical healer as she was a mind healer and Fay could already tell there was something in Komari Vosa that Luminara had not seen, a pain part physical and part mental. The mental aspect had been healed several times, but kept on coming back, tied to the physical flashes of pain and anger. "Hello young knight," Fay said, moving towards her. "I am Master Fay."

"Master" Komari said, bowing her head.

Fay smiled gently, even as her Force power reached out. "You are in pain, let me help for a moment."

"Master I am not…" Vosa paused and then the woman almost crumpled to the ground, but not in pain. Her face had instead formed into an expression of disbelieving relief. The pain in her head, in her body had simply gone away at Fay's gentle Force touch.

Luminara sighed as she caught Vosa, shaking her head before she looked up at Fay. "Thank you for that. I was able to feel the pain she was in, but I was not able to get at or discern where it was coming from. I was only able to soothe the pain slightly. You, you took the pain entirely away."

"There is a shadow there, something within her mind is causing her great trauma in some uncoordinated but controlled fashion. We will need to examine her brain closely, I think there is something implanted there," Fay said briskly as the two of them held the other woman back into the house Dooku following watching proceedings with well-hidden concern as Harry and Lily followed, unwilling to interrupt the current drama.

The three of them watched silently as Fay and Luminara first lay Knight Vosa down on a bed then began the laborious process of examining the woman's mind and soul.

Luminara was a healer true, but nowhere near as accomplished as Fay. Even Master Yoda would have admitted that Fay was the better healer, able to take away pain, both physical and mental, to a level he could not with a subtlety Yoda could not match. He was far better at healing gross injuries, but when it came to the mind, Fay was head and shoulders above him.

Had he been consulted, Yoda might well have found the small torture devices still embedded in the woman, so small that even Republic medical scanners could barely find them, and would not have been able to remove them in any event. But Fay could find them, and could remove them, though the process was not pretty.

Harry gulped once as he watched the back of the woman's head slowly open as if it had been cut by a scalpel then watched over the next few moments as something small, so small it glittered in the air like a piece of dust was slowly pulled out of the woman's brain cavity. Master Fay held out her hand, and the dust particle began to move from the cut, as if the blood wasn't even solid it was simply there, held there by Luminara's Force powers. The particles began to fill up a small nearby vial for a moment, as Lily looked on in wonder once more at the Jedi's ability to heal, watching Fay and the green-skinned woman work.

Eventually Master Fay leaned back shaking her head with his side. "I believe we have found them all." She nodded at Master Unduli.

The other woman nodded back, shaking her head sadly. "I would never have even realized those implants were there," she said wonderingly. "How in the world did the Bando Gora get their hands on technology that could create and implant something like that?"

"Some hidden packet of ancient technology, some madman developing it on his own? The reasons do not matter, only that they died with them." Dooku said shaking his head from where he had been watching the work behind Harry. "We were most thorough in our destruction of the death-loving cult." Dooku said with a nod. "But my former padawan will be well now?"

I have been concentrating on the mental trauma and the psychological side of things, and I've been making quite a bit of progress even with these pain giving devices implanted within Vosa. Your rescue of her, and the amount of effort the Order put forth in doing so, was a major stepping stone to rebuilding her psyche," Luminara said clinically. "With this pain giving saying that gone, we should make even more progress quickly, though I would welcome Master Fay's help there too of course."

"With pleasure," Fay replied, smiling as she leaned back in the chair. "I believe that healing like this should be the bedrock of the entire Order, though I know I am in the minority there."

Now to young Harry and to the mystery of Lily. I take it that she and the boy she so closely resembles is the real source of all of the new techniques that have begun to propagate within the order?" Dooku asked, gesturing them all to sit down, pulling out a hard-backed chair from himself form a small table set by the window of the room assigned to his former padawan. Harry quickly sat down on the floor by Master Fay's seat, his legs crossed Indian style.

"That is essentially correct, though the reality is somewhat different, and our origins are something that we would prefer not to share at present." Lily replied cautiously, looking at the two lightsaber masters. "Can you two do anything of the techniques Clan Saa has shared?"

"We can both us the Shielding technique. Naturally this has led to a bit of evolution in our lightsaber styles," Dooku supplied then cocked his head, his lips twitching in what might have been a wry grimace. "The stunning technique seems to be of limited utility, so I have not made any effort to learn it, though I have made an effort to build up a mental defense to its effect. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do any of the body modification techniques, my belief in my own body is too strong for me to overcome."

"Nor have I," Luminara said softly, reaching for a glass of water on a nearby bed stand and drinking it down for going on. Master Fay didn't look as if she had been exhausted by this ordeal, but Luminara certainly was. _Seven months I have been on this planet, and I never realized that those pain receptors were still activated. I feel as if I should go back to training._

Aloud, Luminara said "There is a tale here," looking between Harry and Lily and then back to Master Fay. "A tale Master Yoda evidently has endorsed and moreover hidden the truth of from the rest of the Order. I have to wonder why he thought the secrecy was necessary."

"I on the other hand do not. The Order can be reactionary at the best of times, and with the balance in the Force shifting to favor the Dark Side, this is not the best of times," Dooku said, his face stern. "However, I too would like to know the truth of how you came to join the Order, at the very least as they tie into your abilities. You do not need to tell me more than you wish, but recall you have come here to ask for lightsaber training, something you are reluctant to go to the Temple itself for."

Harry and Lily looked at one another for a time, while Fay filled the silence by telling Dooku and Luminara about what the Force had told them about that idea: that taking Harry to Coruscant too soon would lead to disaster. The fact the type of disaster was not certain was irritating, but the message had never varied. The knowledge that Master Yoda had also sensed this calmed Luminara down. Dooku however remained looking at the Lily and Harry.

Eventually their silent communication ended, and Lily began to tell their tales. They did not share everything, only enough to assuage Dooku's concerns. They shared nothing about their real origins, and Harry made certain to not share anything about a lot of the Force techniques that Harry could use, in particular transfiguration and conjuration, though Lily hinted at the experiments with rune work she and Fay had been doing, saying their research into it had been sanctioned by Master Yoda.

Fay joined in again after that, with Harry and Lily speaking about Harry's strange luck, how he always seemed to find conflict or danger both connected and not to whatever mission sent by the Force had brought Fay to a planet. It quickly became apparent that Harry needed more combat training than Fay could provide. Her own abilities were formidable, but did not include lightsaber training of course.

"And so you are here to learn the lightsaber Harry," Dooku said with a frown looking between the Force Ghost and her son for a long moment, trying to get the measure of them and their story. He trusted Master Yoda of course, had had been quietly ecstatic about the number of new Force powers Yoda and the clan had been introducing, which had broken the stasis he felt the Order had been in for too long.

And he liked the youth, there was a charisma and power in Harry that was impressive. But that also made Dooku even more leery of trusting his first impression of the youth. He leaned back, now concentrating on his Force senses, asking the Force as a whole a simple question: _What should I do here?_

The answer he got actually dovetailed with his own first impressions, combined with a vision. It showed all three of his visitors surrounded by a corona of white, almost searing Light, fluctuating and shimmering away from them into the Force as a whole as the Dark Side closed in. What was interesting however was what happened when the ripple touched Dooku. His own aura, something he rarely looked at if Dooku was honest, also changed. It became stronger in some ways and simply changed in others. And when the ripples went on, they had become ripples he caused, things that would last beyond his own time, possibly for all time.

This vision told Dooku several things. One, whatever changes had begun with the inclusion of the Jedi's new techniques they were far from finished. Two, these three represented both that change and the Light side of the Force. And third, if he chose to help them, his own life would change, his own future would change, and perhaps more than that… Finally Dooku nodded, his lips ticking up into an actual smile. "I trust you have a training lightsaber?"

Harry nodded eagerly, and Dooku gestured him out the door. He looked at Luminara who looked between the doorway and Lily who had quickly followed Harry, then down at her patient before nodding and getting to her feet. Master Fay gestured at herself and the patient. "I'll stay here for a moment."

After making certain that the woman would stay asleep for now and running a few diagnostic sensors techniques over the other woman, Fay quickly followed the others. One area among the garden was actually a training area, and Master Fay found the other three there, along with Lily. She paused watching as Master Unduli began to duel with Harry, not a full on spar: Luminara was not using any of your Force powers nor was Harry. It was simply lightsaber to lightsaber, as Luminara and Dooku tested Harry's physical skills and his Force precognition.

Harry's lightsaber was a blur, thrusting, slashing and cutting in short controlled arcs then wider arcs and then thrusts, working in all of the techniques he had learned from Shii-Cho and what he remembered from Master Giiett against Luminara, who simply stood there, batting his attacks aside. "Move your feet more," she instructed, her eyes narrowing for a moment before going back to normal. "Hmmm, that is enough of Shii-Cho. Have you learned anything from Ataru?"

In response Harry took to the air, actually kicking off it occasionally with Force Pushes directed downwards from his feet, a sight that made Luminara's eyes widen appreciatively. But that was the only side of surprise that the Miralian showed, commenting calmly, "Good mobility, decent style as well for someone who has been untrained. Your Force Precognition is also decent!"

This last comment was caused by Harry's attack seguing into a defense blocking Luminara's attack and then using the momentum of that attack to swing into his own attack forcing her backwards slightly. Her one Force Precognition of course had seen it coming, but even so from a young boy that was a remarkable sign.

"The young padawan is powerful but power is not everything," Dooku said thoughtfully shaking his head as he knew what was coming next.

A second later Luminara disarmed Harry quickly, her lightsaber lightly tapping the back of his hand for a moment after sliding down the plasma blade and Harry winced, letting loose his weapon automatically. Before he could grab it with his own Force powers Luminara had, and it hovered in the air above her for a moment until Dooku stepped forward.

She then returned it to Harry with the same Force Hold and Harry took it quickly, bringing it in a salute towards the older man. Dooku returned it, then without another word attacked, a probing attack first towards Harry's chest with a thrust, segueing into a slash at his leg, then another at his head. Harry blocked them all, and they were off, the lightsabers sizzling and fizzing as they clashed.

Dooku was the definition of calm, almost cold precision holding his dueling style curved lightsaber hilt in one hand as the other was set along the small of his back, always turning his body to present his side towards Harry. Harry dodged and moved, whereas Dooku simply remain silent and watching, evaluating and shouting instructions. Occasionally his lightsaber would score on Harry, and Lily would wince, but her son didn't let those touches bother him, simply absorbing the instruction and the attacks and returning with his own.

"Do not wave your arms about like that, keep the lightsaber under control. Remember it has little weight to it at all, do not be fooled by the fact it is shaped like a sword. Swift responses, let the Force guide your movements." Dooku shouted, then fell silent, scoring again and again on Harry for a few moments, until he backed away once more, allowing Harry to regain his breath before pressing in once more.

"Don't let your instincts or physical responses control your movement, the Force is everything in a duel between Jedi! Settle yourself into it! Do not lift one leg while still attacking like that!" Dooku said, as he attacked that one leg before Harry could set himself, battering Harry's defenses aside to score a long slash there. His lightsaber was of course on low-power, but it still stung.

This went on for some time as Luminara watched, calling in calm instructions of her own, helping Harry get used to the fact that his lightsaber was indeed a weapon and one he had to respect.

Dooku words and tone remained crisp, almost but not quite condescending throughout the match, but his thoughts were something else, though he did not let himself feel the full impact until later that night.

This young boy was immensely powerful, and skilled too. He had yet to make the same mistake twice, he listened to instruction well, and he was no stranger to pain, something which admittedly made Dooku wonder what had been kept back about his past in their earlier explanation.

But even more so, the boy's abilities could prove interesting, and he wondered how much more the boy had that Clan Saa had not shared. Dooku was harsh on him for those first few moments because it was obvious that Harry wanted to use some of his own techniques, fighting his instincts and Force senses both. Eventually Dooku paused, moving away quickly. "That is enough lightsaber dueling for now, we have a handle on your physical skills and Force Precognition Harry, and they are… adequate. We will of course bring them up further. Adequate is not good enough to **me** , understood?

"Yes Master," Harry said quickly, bowing his head.

"Now, after a two minute break, we will begin anew. Only this time, we will each be allowed to use our Force Powers." Dooku went on, nodding his head incrementally to acknowledge Harry's attitude.

Fay frowned slightly, then looked up and Lily, who moved her shoulders in a half shrug, making a wait and see motion with her hands. At first she too had been rather angry at how Dooku was treating Harry, but Lily quickly realized it was simply how he acted in general. Moreover, she knew that her son hadn't really had any male role model behind Master Giiett, who really couldn't step up to that role given his duties to the rest of the clan. Dooku's stern attitude towards Harry might be a good thing in the long term, but Lily would have to watch closely to make certain it didn't go too far.

To that end, Lily caught Harry's attention before the next match could begin, speaking out in English so only Harry and Fay could understand her. "Harry, feel free to use shields, stunners, Bombarda, and apparition in this next match along with telekinesis if you can. No transfiguration or element attacks, and no Light constructs." The last was one of Harry's specialties, something Lily had never seen in the Wizarding World, but one she, Harry and Fay had worked on over the years.

Harry blinked at her, having expected she and Fay would ask him to keep apparition a secret, though the other chosen spells hadn't surprised him. Except for the Bombarda type spells they were all things the clan had been taught. Only Aayla and the teachers knew Bombarda, but it was a possibility that Dooku had already seen it.

He looked over at Fay, who looked in turn at Dooku who was looking between the two Potters with interest. After a moment she nodded her agreement.

At that Harry lips curled into an almost-grin bringing his lightsaber up into a defense stance, before nodding over at Dooku who nodded back and attacked. "Bombarda!" Harry shouter, bringing his hand forward, aiming the technique at Dooku's feet.

His Force Precognition screaming at him Dooku Leaped up, pushing off the ground with the Force to avoid the explosion that occurred right where his feet had been a moment before. "Interesting, but you'll have to do better than that." He subsequently ignored a red stunner, before ducking underneath a thrown vase, which Luminara subsequently caught with her own Force powers. Charging forward Dooku closed the distance quickly, summoning up his own Force shield a convex thing which redirected the brunt of the next bombarda, using the momentum of it to fling himself around into an attack.

Harry blocked it, then was suddenly gone. Lily noticed idly that there had been no sound of displaced air or anything else when he apparated, something that only the most powerful wizards in the Wizarding World could have done. Here of course he was the only one who knew the technique but that didn't invalidate how darn good, or how quick, her son had become with combat apparition.

Looking around Dooku gave himself to the Force Precognition and brought his lightsaber up over his head to block Harry's downward stroke. Then Harry disappeared again, coming in once more from the side only to be blocked in turn. "An amazing display of Force power, but unless you can train yourself to fool your opponent's Force Precognition it becomes little more than a parlor trick."

Harry took that in stride, and began to not only apparate but fire out stunners, Force grabs aimed at his opponent's limbs, and a few Bombardas. Dooku responded by summoning up his Force Shield once again, and moving around randomly, so that many of the techniques missed, closing in whenever Harry had to stay put for a moment to fire them off. Eventually he also began to lash out with his own Force powers, grabbing at Harry's body, causing his balance to falter, even at one point launching a mental probe at Harry.

Eventually he closed in, pressing Harry too hard for him to concentrate on his Force techniques. After that, Harry was forced on the defensive, and stayed there for the rest of the match, as Dooku once more began to give him some simple instructions. Drilling him in the various stances and attacks could come later.

Later that evening, Dooku sat on his villas verandas alone with his thoughts, smiling slightly as he thought about what he could do with this young man. _The word is legacy._

Dooku was one of the top three blade masters in the Order, and had defeated Master Windu in past lightsaber duels. But his own two padawans, while both excellent with a blade, were not reckoned among the best. He had seen Windu rise to his position and create Vaapad, but even before that, Dooku knew the younger man would go far, he had that much potential. Yet Dooku knew he was getting on in years, his physical prime was behind him now. But Harry Potter's potential dwarfed that of Mace Windu, or any of the other lightsaber masters.

Dooku knew he wasn't actually a natural Master, the type to teach everything he could about the Force to a young padawan, as evidenced by his relationship with his two previous ones. With Qui-Gon he was too distant and cold, and it nearly ended in disaster. With Komari, he never noticed her infatuation until she confessed to him, and then had rejected her automatically, siting both their respective ages and the Jedi Code, which forbade such attachments. But a lightsaber teacher, that he certainly was. Indeed, some of his lessons on the subject had been collected and added to a holocron currently used in the Praxium to teach the beginning of Makashi to younglings.

"Thinking deep thoughts Master Dooku?" A voice asked, and Dooku turned from gazing out over the vista to look at Lily Potter as she floated on the breeze next to him. Her own face was turned away for a moment, before turning to look at him, those bright emerald eyes she shared with her son locking on Dooku's face.

"Not quite deep though perhaps personal, at least somewhat." Dooku replied, standing and bowing to her before returning to his seat, staring up at her thoughtfully. "You have questions." He stated.

"I do, and so do you. I realize how secretive my son and I are about our origins can seem suspicious but it really isn't. There's just no point to wondering about it you see, there is no way to go back there, and nothing for either of us to go back to." Lily finished, waving one hand as if to send the thought away, though of course it wasn't quite as simple as that.

Lily had a lot of questions about what had happened back in the Wizarding World, why Dumbledore had ignored her will and what all she hadn't seen of what he had done to keep Harry with the Dursleys, what had happened to Sirius and Remus, Alice, Rufus and her other friends. But none of that mattered over her son's happiness and safety, and there really was no way they could return anyway.

Dooku nodded, feeling the truth in her words despite not being able to sense it through her mind. "And as for keeping your abilities known only to a select few that at least is easy to understand. Arrogance and pride in your abilities has been the downfall of many Jedi over the eons, and these techniques, the new ways they allow their practitioners use the Force, would feed such feelings. I do have questions, in particular about these runes and the disaster Master Fay and Yoda saw if Harry was taken to Coruscant too soon. But those can be directed at said worthies or are currently unimportant. But I believe you too had questions for me."

Lily paused, turning to look out over the garden and beyond, the view so like something she could have found on Earth yet so unlike you could never forget this was an alien world. "My son has never had a man he could look up to in his life. My husband James… he died in the defense of our family when Harry was but a baby." Despite her ghostly status Lily visibly let out a breath before going on. "Harry asked me once about that night, about how James died, but we've never really sat down and talked about it, and he hasn't asked since."

She turned, her emerald eyes piercing into Dooku's yet again. For all that Lily was a Force Ghost and at best half his own age, Dooku felt there was a definite power to the woman and to her stare at this moment. "That is why I didn't step in when you were so harsh with him earlier. He could use a somewhat sterner hand, so long as it doesn't cross the line."

"Milady, Lily, are you asking me to become a, a father figure to him? I would not be comfortable in that role, not only because of my age, but because such an attachment goes against both my own temperament, and the Order's beliefs about such attachments. I have many issues still with the way the Order is run, but that is not one of them. I am no longer leery of your own connection to your son, but I could not form such a close familial attachment myself." Dooku said, somewhat awkwardly. He did think he had a lot to teach the boy, but he knew he didn't have it in him to be that kind of individual.

"No, that is not what I'm asking. There is a difference between a male role model and a father. My son," _ **our**_ _son, rather, considering how Fay has taken to treating him,_ "Has gone his entire life without a father figure, and I think he's turned out very well indeed without one. No, I want you to teach him what we, Fay and I, are unable to. That goes beyond lightsaber training. Tactics, strategy, even simple things such as how to comport himself, how to be stern and when it's appropriate, and other even more subtle things."

"I, I will think about this." Dooku said, shaking his head slightly. "I can understand what you are asking for and I will think about it." _and what you have left unsaid, not a father figure but a role model._

After Lily left, wafting out into the garden to join Luminara and Fay on a walk through them, Dooku was left along once more. He thought for a moment about Lily's words, and wondered if he was up to that task. _The jury could be said to still be out on the matter given how my two padawans have turned up. Still, it will not hurt me to try. And the potential the boy has…_ shaking his head Dooku turned his attention away from that as the door to his veranda opened and Harry came out. "You are recovered I trust, Harry?"

"Yes Master Dooku," Harry said bowing his head. 'I am fully recovered I think."

"Good, we will continue your instruction tomorrow after I check in on my former padawan." Dooku said, gesturing the boy to sit across from him if he wished. Harry moved to the balcony for a few moments, closing his eyes as he seemed to feel the air on his face.

Feeling Dooku's eyes on him Harry shrugged. "The last world we were on was an ice planet Master Dooku, and before that we were on several different space stations for a few weeks. Feeling the wind on my face like this without feeling as if it was freezing off is quite nice."

"I see," Dooku said, before falling silent for a few moments looking at Harry, then Dooku gestured again at the chair across from him, and the small, intricately carved game set on the table between the two chairs. "Tell me Harry, can you play regicide?"

 **OOOOOOO**

While padawan Zule Xiss was grateful for Master Glaive taking her on, she could have wished that he was a somewhat gentler soul, let alone a gentler teacher. She bowed profusely to the man Master Glaive had brushed aside as the two of them had exited the passenger ship the two of them had taken to their latest mission. This would be her fourth with Master Glaive, and he had yet to finish the mission without rubbing someone, other than those involved in the actual, dispute the wrong way. _It's almost a talent._

"Of course we do not have baggage you fool! We are Jedi, attachments to material things like that are beneath us." The large, powerfully built human male said, shaking his head.

Shaking her head Zule followed her Master. _I know I'm the lucky to have gotten a Master so quick, especially with so many of the rest of the clan not having done so, but even so..._ In fact her friend Wulo was being considered to be sent to the Agricultural Corps. It was only Master Yoda and Master Mace having begun to revamp that process and the fact that he was the second best of all of them all, of the clan anyway, at teaching the shield technique that he hadn't already been sent there.

Master Glaive had taken her on with extreme reluctance. He was not one of those who looked on her and the others of the Clan askance for their skills, or their more emotional ways of acting at times. But he was a very abrasive sort of person, demanding, brusque, argumentative and what he called forthright, but which Zule knew was simply rude at times.

 _On the other hand, he is a Guardian, and that makes him perfect for me in many ways,_ Zule thought, following him quickly now. _And it could certainly be worse. I could be Alecto, stuck back in the Temple until another Master wishes to take him on, or Aayla right now. I don't know enough about her mission, but I know it was something she was chosen for because of her race, and that can't be good._

The two Jedi or as Master Glaive would put it the Jedi Master and the padawan, "you are not a full Jedi yet young one", exited the spaceport terminal out into a large sprawling cityscape, one with a truly bizarre mix of architecture from what Zule could see. Half of the buildings were square and constructed of ferro-crete and steel, others were even larger, obviously factories. A third of the remaining buildings were housing districts, built along the same utilitarian lines. Another third were light and airy in nature, looking almost like trees made of steel and metal. And then there were domes, small ones scattered around the larger buildings, sometimes growing up out of them or from the sides.

The city was a very odd place, an almost exact mirror of the entire planet which was dominated by the humans who'd come to colonize this planet during the Colonization Era.

However, there had been a native species already, and another race had been forced to evacuate to this one due to a natural disaster on their homeland a few years into the human's inhabitation of it. The Pekun'ar were a race that looked as if they had evolved along similar lines as the Toydarians, except they were more resembled little flying monkeys with membrane wings. They were highly intelligent, completely pacifistic, and excellent workers hence why the humans of this planet had welcomed them with open arms.

The original inhabitants of the planet, a lizard like species called the Deshlon, were not so welcoming. For one thing, the Pekun'ari were simply better at most of the jobs the Deshlons did, and got on famously with the local humans. Whereas the Deshloni, had tried to make war with the human colonists several times after initially welcoming them with open arms thanks to the humans' higher level of technology. It didn't help matters that the Deshlon believed the Pekun'ars were amazingly good eating.

A smack to the back of the head woke Zule from her musings, and she turned quickly bowing to her Master before pulling out their Council papers, holding them out over the reader while her Master grumbled about her absentmindedness. "There's a time and place for meditation, walking is not it." Then he went back to another particular gripe of his. "You would think that the lightsaber would be enough of a mark of the Jedi, as well as our clothing!"

"Don't a few bounty hunters also have lightsabers Master?" Zule asked almost absentmindedly, her eyes flicking over to a Pekun'ar who was flying by.

"Bah!" said Master Glaive, shaking his head. "They might own them, but they do not wear them padawan, that would be an amazingly bad idea for them. Even if the Senate is so blind that they allow the bounty hunters Guild to operate as it does with little oversite."

He frowned looking down at her from his towering height of nearly 8 feet, all of it muscle. Zule in contrast was a regularly sized woman for her race, slightly shorter than most human women of her age, but extremely well formed thanks to her Jedi training and her own inclination to physical fitness. I understand why the bounty hunters would be on your mind given what happened to your clan mate," he said bluntly, "but you must put it out of your mind. Jedi cannot allow emotions or attachments to impede their connection with the Force. Remember that. There is no emotion there is peace."

"There is no ignorance there is knowledge," Zule quoting the next passage of the Jedi Oath, shaking her head internally. Like many a Jedi Master Glaive looked at her and the others askance for having come out and stated unequivocally at one time or another that they would be taking the Old Oath rather than the new. "Understood Master."

The man nodded brusquely at her and moved off into the city. Zule sent an apologetic bow towards the next few people he pushed out of his way before following him.

They were here to hunt down and either apprehend or exterminate a terrorist cell of Deshloni who had turned cannibal eating not only the Pekun'ars but a few of their own species. They were supposedly druggies, some kind of new drug had gotten into this system and the Jedi Order wanted the pipeline to said drug found and shot down with **extreme** prejudice given what the drug did to the minds of the people who were foolish enough to try it.

A few hours later, the two of them had canvassed the city, found a rooftop to use as a base of operations, and begun to dig into the local underground. Master Glaive was actually quite proficient at this. Take away his giant lightsaber and changes clothing, and he could quite easily pass as a bouncer looking for work, using his Force telepathy to fog men's minds when they looked at his face. Zule too could handle herself in this kind of environment, changing her skin tone due to one of the techniques Harry had taught them all, and if she put on an outfit could look like a glimmer girl, a bad to the bone space pirate, or a down on her luck street rat if she added a change of breast size to the disguise. Zule was, despite the Order's injunctions against it, rather proud of that. S she was the only one who could do that particular trick, something that had irritated Aayla a time or two, until her own natural size caught up with Zule's.

 _Why have my thoughts kept turning to Aayla these past few days?_ Zule thought to herself as she moved through a bar, her arms holding a full tray of drinks. This particular bar was frequented by all three species prevalent on the planet, as well as a few offworlders, and was one of many the two Jedi had sensed might be connected to the local crime scene. I _s the Force trying to tell me something? If it is, I could wish it was clearer in its message._

Of course, these days the Force really wasn't being clear with anyone. A lot of the older Masters had begun to talk about it: the Force was becoming Dark. There was nothing behind it, but it was no longer a mere suggestion felt only by the most powerful and learned Masters, nearly every Master in the Order could feel it. A lot of them Zule knew had begun to look at the Clan even more askance than before, as if their techniques had led to this imbalance. But there was no clear indication of that, and their proponents were quick to shoot that idea down, especially those Jedi whose lives had been saved by the shield technique or any of the others.

She paused, a strain of conversation hitting her heightened hearing from a group heading into the back of the restaurant. She quickly cast a few Force techniques over herself, muffling her steps and covering herself in a notice-me-not as Harry and Mistress Lily had put it, though the Jedi simply called it Force Cloak. Zule had used the Jedi version, and felt it was better if you were on the move and especially moving quickly or in a crowd, but Mistress Lily's version was better if you had to be silent and were sneaking around. With the two techniques covering her Zule moved quickly in the direction of the voices, pausing next to the door and enhancing her hearing further.

"The next shipment will be here in two days! If the _Peregrine_ isn't prepared to move on its way, we'll have to immediately turn the shipment back. Didn't you hear? There are **two Jedi** on the planet! They will ruin everything, they always do, and I won't take the fall from them or the higher ups for your incompetence."

"Calm yourssself," said a noticeably reptilian voice. It sounded odd to Zule's ears beyond the sibilant hiss, metallic almost, grating. "Your backers will be able to send the rest of the shipment on as long as we get our cut. The _Peregrine_ will be ready before their ship arrives, and you'll be able to transship the load immediately at our facility. The local Skynet operators are still in our pocket, never fear."

"You've already had your cut. You had your cut last month." The first voice again, only this time, the heat it had contained was gone, replaced by cold anger. "This is a fiscal operation Kruger, it isn't just to feed your own habit. If you can't keep control you're of no use to our employers. And if you start skimming off the top, we'll cut you off entirely."

There was a sound of several people moving quickly, and a thrumming noise Zule realized was the sound of several blaster rifles being powered up as one. "I do not think sssso," said the metallic reptilian voice. "We will have our sssshare of every sssshipment that comes through Jago, or you will be sent to your higher-upssss in piecesssss."

"This, you…." The first voice stuttered now, its anger overcome by shock. "You can't think you'll get away with this! You don't know who you're screwing with!?"

"We have a very good idea. Perhaps it is you who does not know who you are dealing with. Your higher upssss seem to not undersssstand they need ussss jusssst assss much as we now need XGrim. They need to learn thissss, and you will deliver this messsssage. But, we don't need your guardssss to deliver said message, and I'm getting peckisssh. Boysss?"

Zule paused, her hands dropping down to her side, where two lightsabers sat, hidden in a pair of pouches she covered every morning with a specific notice-me-not, one of the spells she had been able to modify far more than the rest of the clan. The lightsabers were both shotos, short swords with blue blades. The crystals inside them came from a crystal cave master Giiett had taken her and Aayla to when they had advanced to the point of creating their own lightsabers.

He had been on the rotation to oversee such, but Zule had her doubts about that. She felt his taking them personally like that had been his way of thanking them for teaching him the Shield spell which had saved his life against the Yinchorri a bare few weeks before. Her crystals had been normal for the most part, though somewhat more perfect in their natural state than most. Aayla's had not been, they looked normal and they were physically perfect, with no flaw in them. But when they were used to power her lightsabers, they showed an extremely odd light purple color.

 _Again my thoughts go to Aayla! I definitely will have to meditate on her after this mission is over. And possibly get in touch with Harry too if I can. If Aayla is in danger, he needs to know._

That her own Master and most of the Jedi Order would look askance at that very idea one of their number would need to be informed of danger to another was something that Zule thought and dismissed within a millisecond. There were just some things that were more important than the Orders rather silly rules.

 _But speaking of them_ , Zule thought, activating lightsabers. _What would my two friends do in this situation?_ She thought about that for a few moments, as the' discussion' inside the room went on, then pulled out her twin lightsabers from their pouch, activating them quickly and slicing the door into pieces before racing inside, her earlier techniques fading quickly overcome by her movement. She hastily through one hand forward, a shield going on around the three individuals at one end of the room, as several Deshloni fired on them before pausing in shock when her Force Shield took the blaster bolts.

Zule shouted aloud "don't fire! It won't be able to…" A bare millisecond later she groaned as one of the security guards ignored her shouting and fired from inside the shield. The bolts bounced as she knew it would have from the inside, the Clan had tested that one out while on the Explorer, killing him and his partner and wounding their principle.

Behind her she felt Master Glaive arrived, but she was already too busy, her lightsabers flashing into a modified Shien defense, battering the blaster bolts all around her back towards her attackers. Then Zule halted in place, reaching out with the Force wrenching at half of them, hurling them backwards as hard as she could. They fell broken and bleeding, and then her Master was there, cutting down three of them in quick succession, his lightsaber's green plasma blade burning straight through them without any effort. The fight went out of the others at that, and they tried to run past the Jedi or surrender.

"Good work," Glaive said grudgingly as they looked around the remains of the room, spotting a Deshloni hiding behind a desk to one side of the room. The Deshlon in question had a missing jaw replaced by crude cybernetics. And in the center of the room behind Zule's shield there was a single human in a somewhat decent suit lying on the ground his thigh burned.

"Thank you Master," Zule said, quickly informing him of all that she had overheard as she let the shield technique, wavering on her feet for a moment as the drain from it hit her. Deactivating her lightsabers she moved to rip off a piece of one of the local's clothing, moving to kneel beside the human's thigh and trying to staunch the bleeding.

She wasn't a Healer, nor was her Master, although his personal healing abilities were quite high. Healing another person however was something Glaive simply could not do.

He did however have extremely good Force Precognition, and when the human tried to pull out a small holdout blaster Glaive's lightsaber cleaved it in two right above the other man's fingers. Glaive smiled down at the other man, but it wasn't a kind expression. It was a shark-like expression on his normal grim countenance, and he leaned forward deliberately intimidating the smaller man. "Trying to take my padawan hostage is not the best way to get on my good side. Now, why don't you tell me all about this new drug…"

 **OOOOOOO**

Harry's lightsaber flashed to the right blocking an attack from the Luminara, then swiftly segueing into another stance his lightsaber coming up, covering half his body, before moving to defend against two more strikes in quick succession. Retreating up under Master Unduli's assault, Harry gestured with his offhand, the rocks underneath Luminara exploding upwards in a tower.

Luminara however simply bounced aside, coming around the new obstruction quickly, only to be met by Harry who had moved in the same direction, their lightsabers flashing and sparking off one another. A second later Harry flipped over her, his outstretched hand thrusting down a Force Push forcing her to remain on the ground for a moment his Force powers enveloping her own.

Despite that, Luminara's Force Precognition was up to the task of battering aside his assaults, returning with a series of attacks straight from Makashi, pushing Harry backwards in midair.

"Good instincts," Dooku said calmly from the sidelines. "But always remember your opponent's abilities, never get caught flat-footed in midair like that, it impedes your abilities far too much. You can't concentrate on that air walk maneuver and your lightsaber skills of same time. What have I told you about falling back like that while attempting to use Ataru?"

"Not to do it Master Dooku," Harry said promptly, not looking away from where he was still engaged with Luminara, having regained his footing only to be continually pressed back and around in a circle now.

"Exactly, though perhaps you should take this to heart. I cannot tell you the amount of Jedi who have taken up Ataru who are not suited for it simply because it is flashy." Dooku said a sneer in his voice as he said the last word. "Now, take up the initial ready stance of Makashi."

Luminara backed away for a millisecond, allowing Harry to take his stance, before attacking with even more speed and skill. But Harry matched her, unwilling to take to the air as he had been, but also not taking a full Makashi stance, using a few wild slashing attacks from Shii-Cho.

"An interesting attempt," Luminara said, before she deftly disarmed Harry, her lightsaber as usual on low flipping over his own to gently lash at his forearm. That kind of touch with a full powered lightsaber of course would have cost Harry his hand.

"But still not quite good enough. You're getting better at giving yourself to the Force to allow it to guide your movements, but you still trust too much in your own eyes. Remember a lightsaber's repost off another's blade can be just as deadly and powerful as any actual attack. Momentum and movement is the key in lightsaber combat." Luminara instructed.

"As is endurance," Dooku interjected calmly. He had Luminara had several conversations about that, but he had proven his point more than once. Makashi allowed the duelist to control the pace of the battle, fast soft or hard, it didn't matter to a Makashi user, and Dooku was Form 2's undisputed master. Unduli was good, but Dooku was arguably the second best duelist in the Order.

But despite their harsh words to Harry, both Jedi Masters were deeply impressed and in the case of Dooku pleased with Harry's progress. The past two weeks had passed quickly as Harry began his formalized lightsaber instruction, falling into a rhythm as the two lightsaber duelists did their best to bring Harry up to match his fellow padawans, finding in the boy a true diamond in the rough. He had incredible speed and coordination, and his Battle Precognition was getting better all the time.

"That is enough for now," Luminara said. "Break for 10 minutes then we will move into a full spar."

"Yes Master," Harry replied, powering down his training lightsaber. Master Dooku and Master Unduli had decided to spend at least six months training Harry extensively in lightsaber stances and moves before allowing him to start building his own lightsaber. He was allowed to collect the parts, except for the all-important crystal of course. That item would take a training journey sometime in the future.

Of course, a break didn't actually mean a full break, just a break from physical exercise. Master Fay motioned Harry to join her, and he sat in front of her for a moment, as Master Fay began to press here and there on his body, informing him of the various ways injuries would feel at those points and how to heal them, how to draw out the pain as she put it, then push the Force into those areas, healing the wounds. Though he was relatively good at fixing broken bones, Harry had yet to do that or any other kind of healing consciously, and it was time he learned how to project the Force inwards in this manner.

Lily wafted over to Dooku, smiling at the older man as he pulled off his Jedi robe, setting it aside. "How do you think Harry's doing?"

Dooku looked over making certain that Harry was fully engrossed in the desk in front of him and out of earshot before replying. "I would not wish your son to get a big head madam, but he is learning quite quickly. His combat instincts are incredible, as is his Force Precognition for his age and experience level."

That actually was an understatement. While a lot of the physical exercises were coming to Harry slowly, he'd already been in excellent physical shape. It was simply building muscle memory, and building a repertoire of moves and stances that would take Harry a while. Harry also still had issues with allowing the Force to guide his actions. He could sense his opponent's moves, but responding appropriately was taking longer, something which, again came down to training.

"I'm uncertain what for lightsaber style is best suited for the young man just yet. Not Shii-Cho, it is too wild and too unrefined. Not Ataru, since he has trouble concentrating on his defense when in midair like that despite his body control. Truly a defensive style might be best, since his Force powers give Harry an advantage in any fight…" Dooku finished leadingly, looking up at the Force Ghost.

Lily chuckled shaking her head but not responding further. Master Dooku was of the opinion that despite the skills he showed, apparition, the Bombardment technique and others, Harry held back quite a bit of what he could do with the Force, and of course he was correct in his. Both Lily and Fay had decided to keep Harry's transfiguration and conjuration skills secret. That, and what Harry could do with his Light constructs, were surprises they wanted kept under wraps.

They had however relented and allowed him to start using some element manipulation. Simple things that were more extensions of Force telekinesis and control more than anything else. His ability to pull water out of the air was not beyond a Jedi's ability, but the way he could conjure up enough to use as a spear was, as was the wind version. Those had come as a shock to Komari the day before, allowing Harry to almost score a win on the experienced knight.

"What is on the itinerary for this afternoon?" Dooku asked, after explaining the various different styles once more, and which he felt Harry was suited for. He would not push of course, he wanted Harry to come to the right conclusion on his own.

"Fay was asked to officiate a few local jurisdictional issues, and Harry is going with her." Lily replied. Most Jedi were called in occasionally to see it in judgment on cases of law, personal issues, or cross-cultural/species problems. On Sorenno of course that last was an issue, but given the prickly nature of a lot of the locals, the second certainly was.

For her part Lily still had issues with that idea: that the Force was so able to help the Jedi find the right decision, or rather gave them the tools to know where to look and help them learn the facts. At least she knew that Fay wouldn't make any kind of arbitrary or quick decision, but Lily wished she could say the same thing about others in the Jedi Order.

"Break is over Padawan," Dooku said aloud, gesturing Harry back into the training area. He took his position across from Harry, and began to work Harry through a series of set techniques, while Luminara took over talking to Fay with a certain amount of un-Jedi like eagerness. Despite both being Masters, Fay had quite a bit to teach Luminara and the mind healer was eager to learn the physical side of things from one who was among the best the Order had in that area.

Knight Vosa occasionally joined in one or the other, though her training lightsaber was a pure training saber. Though there was no longer any danger of her falling back into the Dark, there was every bit of the danger of a relapse as Luminara helped her deal with each traumatic memory in turn. Lily talked to her occasionally doing what she could to help Vosa along, though that wasn't much.

Eventually Dooku was satisfied with the way, Harry was performing the various moves, and walked to take up a position across from him. "This will be full combat, feel free to use any of your Force powers you wish," he said as Luminara moved forward from her position by Master Fay.

Komari Vosa winced at her former Masters words shaking her head. Harry's powers and the ease with which he used them gave him a tremendous advantage against any traditional Jedi, even if they, like her former master and Master Unduli, could use the techniques of Clan Saa. Vosa had neither, though she was one of the better Knights with a blade. Harry might not have won that battle but he'd come a lot closer than a young boy of 16 should have come against a Jedi Knight.

"Yes Master," Harry said simply, bringing up his lightsaber into a defensive posture taken fromShii-Cho. It was a basic defense, but it was also the underlying premise for several of the more advanced defenses, so a decent stance to start with.

Dooku saluted him with his own lightsaber then without warning Harry charged forward, his lightsaber flashing out in an arc towards Dooku's head, then around to an attack from his other side, using Dooku's block too throw himself around in a full circle, lashing out with a Force Push at the same time. Dooku counted the Force Push with one of his own, stepping back smartly from the second attack, and lashing out in a series of attacks of his own. The sizzling and fizzing of their lightsabers filled the air as they clashed.

Occasionally Harry's hand free hand flashed up, firing a stun bolt at the older man, who parried it with his own lightsaber or simply dodged. Occasionally Dooku's attack got through to Harry in turn, but Harry quickly raised a small defensive Shield, the Force Shield flaring and deflecting his opponent's lightsaber. Dooku remained mostly stationary, moving around lightly on his feet, never taking to the air or retreating. Harry leaped and dodged, moving constantly, his movements a beginners take on Ataru for now, with quite a bit of other styles thrown in.

"Come now padawan," Dooku said, putting a bit more about strength into a series of blows than he would have otherwise, forcing Harry to backpedal. "I know you can do better than that with your Force powers, I did say this was a full spar did I not?"

Harry grunted then allowed one of Dooku's attacks to make him skid backwards slightly along the ground, before throwing up a full body Force Shield. The shield deflected the next two attacks as he knelt down, slamming his free hand down onto the ground. Instead of the pillar of stone or rock thing up out of the training area that had taken Luminara aback that first day the ground **rippled** , forming into a series of spikes. Each of them shot out towards Dooku leaving gouges in the ground of the training area.

Dooku nodded approvingly, his lightsaber flashing and arcing, destroying each spear as it came at him. "Excellent!" Then Dooku was nearly thrown off his feet by a Force Blow which felt much more like a blast of air then actual Force power.

"I'm just getting warmed up Master Dooku!" Harry exclaimed gesturing upwards. Spears of water appeared in the air, shooting towards Dooku. They sizzled as Dooku intersected them with his lightsaber, and Dooku felt his eyes widen in surprise at the strange Force powers Harry used. He had seen such like that before, but not to this extent.

His Force Precognition warning Dooku leaped into the air for the first time in the battle. His leap took him up at least 15 feet, somersaulting through the air over Harry's head as Harry sent a Bombarda towards where he had been standing. The ground underneath where Dooku had been exploded, but Harry was forced to turn quickly, grabbing all of the pieces of the ground from that explosion and whirling them through the air towards Dooku, trying to tag him.

But Dooku was one step ahead of the projectiles. He touched down dodging between and through the assault closing rapidly with Harry who was forced to quickly fall back onto his lightsaber, falling reluctantly into Soresu in an attempt to tire his opponent out. Dooku's assault was relentless this time. Harry still managed to get off a few more Force attacks as he apparated away, his Force Precognition working overdrive, always placing a Force Shield or his lightsaber between his body and Dooku's assaults, who always seemed just a step behind him.

On the other side of the spar Dooku's own Force Precognition was up to the task of keeping him from being surprised by Harry's bag of tricks, and since Lily had forbidden him from using true attack spells other than Bombardas and wind assaults Harry was unable to match Dooku. Indeed, he wondered if at close range he would have been able to at all even with all his restrictions removed. Dooku's Force Precognition was simply that much better than Harry's own. Dooku had also already learned a bit of Harry's bag of tricks, making these matches even better in the long term for Harry's combat skills, but in the short term rather bad for his ego.

Eventually Dooku won through, his lightsabers scoring a hit along the Harry's shoulder, causing him to hiss in pain. He dropped his lightsaber from that hand, but Force Grabbed it pulling it into his other hand, intent on keeping up the fight.

Dooku bobbed his head in a nod at the youth's willingness to continue but still stood back. "You're not ambidextrous Padawan, though I appreciate the effort. That was quite good, your Force Precognition is growing by leaps and bounds, and your personal style is already taking shape. What can you tell me about it?"

Across from him Harry waited until Dooku, lips quirking, deactivated his lightsaber. There had been a few exercises where Dooku had pointed out that the fight wasn't over until everyone's weapons were turned off, and to not always assume the battle was over.

Once seeing Master Dooku's lightsaber back on his belt, Harry deactivated his own, falling to his knees for a moment and gasping in air at the exertion. Dooku too was sweating, his chest heaving, but his style was very much more conservative than Harry's. Makashi was much less tiring than even Soresu, especially if you added the unnecessary movements Harry committed, and the exertion of using his Force powers into the equation. So it was a few moments before Harry could reply to Dooku's question.

When he did his tone was rather rueful. "I think I need to come up with two different styles Master at least in terms of lightsaber combat. My instinct is to be extremely aggressive, but when I am aggressive, my lightsaber is secondary to my Force assaults. On the other hand, when I am on the defensive, my lightsaber and Force shield become my primary defense as I look for a way to use my Force powers on the offensive."

"Indeed," Dooku said with a nod, a small uptick at the corner of his mouth signifying he was pleased with Harry's perspicacity. "And what does that tell you about the styles you should take up?"

"Djem So for offensive I think." Harry said quickly, and Dooku nodded.

"Yes, your ability to use the Force to heighten your endurance and strength is quite decent, Master fay taught you well there, as is your ability to keep your emotions from hindering you in a fight. You use them, but only to your advantage, there is no waist in that as there is in your Force projections or actual lightsaber moves." Dooku waited for Harry to nod his head acknowledging the critique before going on. "I'd almost think you would be a natural for Master Windu's Vaapad, but once locked into lightsaber combat, he only makes the rare use of Force attacks such as his Force Crush, and even then only rarely does he use that against his actual opponent."

"From what you've said about that style Master Dooku I'm not certain I would **want** to use it," Harry said with a shrug. "As you say I am a bit more emotional than the normal Jedi, and Vaapad seems rely too heavily on perfect emotional control, becoming a mirror to your opponent's anger and flipping it back I suppose you could say."

Dooku now allowed his lips to form an actual smile, reaching out and pulling a glass of water towards him with the Force before handing it down to his lightsaber student. _Legacy, legacy, this boy!_ "Indeed, well spotted, and defensively?"

Harry paused, looking at his the older man thoughtfully. "I was going to say Soresu because that is best, most well-rounded defense, but that doesn't feel right. Shien?"

"And why is that?"

Harry paused silently for a moment, thinking as he got to his feet. Gulping the last of the water down he gave Dooku a grateful bow before sending the glass back to where it had come from with his own Force power.

From the sidelines Lily watched on, smiling brightly. Dooku was harsh taskmaster, but he had despite his misgivings become something of a male role model for her teenage son. Lily could already see some of Dooku's mannerisms rubbing off on Harry, the way he stood and spoke, his unconscious attitude and charisma becoming more obvious. She looked down at Fay, smiling as Luminara and Komari went over the match they had just watched. "Our boys coming along quite well here I think."

" **Our** boy?" Fay asked, smiling up at her dearest friend. Lily simply nodded, and Fay felt her eyes soften for a moment before they went back to watching Harry and Master Dooku. "Yes, our boy. He has indeed. I could wish that the Force had a… less fraught plan for his life, but needs must when the Force drives."

Eventually Harry replied to Master Dooku's last question. "Soresu is not only a lightsaber form, but a combat mentality. It takes too much of your mental attention, imparting a sort of outline to your Force Precognition's abilities. I could not concentrate enough to use more than the bare minimum of my Force powers with Soresu without decades of training at it. Both sides of Form five, Shien and Djem-So are more adaptable to the use of Force techniques in combat situations, and while even Shien is physically demanding it doesn't impart the strain on your Force Precognition that Soresu does. Moreover, they can be used in tandem, it is easier to segue from one of the two to the other than it would be from Djem So to Soresu."

"Excellent!" Dooku said clapping his hand together once. "Well thought out. We will begin a series exercises for both. I expect you to be able to be able to shift quickly from Shien to Djem So by the time we are done. Only in so doing will the styles be truly one entity and a viable combat style, and I will have nothing less than the best from you. Is that understood padawan?"

"Yes Master Dooku," Harry quick said quickly, bowing once more.

"Good. In that case we are finished for now. I believe Master Fay wants to take you into town for a bit? Indeed, I have to go into town myself, there was another pirate attack last night, and they wish my input on it and the recent Trade Federation's blockade of Naboo."

Harry looked up at that, frowning and Dooku looked at him, his eyes narrowed. Harry had yet to fully remove himself from the pirate issue, and more than once Dooku had found him playing with a computer going over the pirate's attacks and their positions. "Have you decided what is bothering you about that Padawan?"

"No Master," Harry said sighing as they moved to join Lily and the others Vosa.

Vosa reached out to ruffle Harry's hair, having fallen into something of a friendly role with the young teen. A part of Vosa kind of resented how much attention her former Master was paying Harry, but most of Vosa knew that Dooku was not a good healer mentally or physically, and was grateful for his help anyway. "I'm sorry I haven't heard this before what exactly about the pirate attacks is bothering you?"

"It's not the attacks themselves," Harry said, as Lily reached out to touch his shoulder lightly wordlessly supporting him. "It's something about there not being a pattern. Something about that bothers me."

"There are multiple pirate bands operating Harry," Dooku said mildly, not reprovingly, he wanted to lead the boy on. Dooku too felt there was something off about the pirate attacks, but his Force senses had not been able to tell them anything nor his natural deductive skills. Fay hadn't had any insight either, and Luminara couldn't care less. She was to help Vosa heal, and that was all. She hadn't even been part of the discussion about forming a starfighter corps to go after the pirates.

"It isn't something that is there, but rather a lack of something," Harry scowled, his nose wrinkling as he tried to think up a better way to say it than that. "I can't describe it any better than that. Something isn't there that should be there, but I can't tell you what."

Dooku and Master Fay exchanged a glance at that. "Something in the data?" Master Fay mused.

Then Dooku got it. "There is no overlap," he said suddenly. All of the pirates are operating in specific areas, they're not competing. And there really isn't a pattern, there is no pattern of types of ship, route attacked, or kind of goods targeted, it's **too** chaotic, as if it was planned to be so. Interesting and definitely something for me to look into Padawan, well done."

As Harry, after a hug from his mother ran off to the showers, Dooku looked over at his former Padawan. "Are you well enough to do some research?"

"Of course Master," Vosa said quickly, then blushed slightly at addressing him in the way she had used when his padawan. As a Knight of course she could simply call him Dooku, but that sounded so wrong. "What would you need of me?"

"Harry's right, these pirates must be operating together somehow. There must be a link between the four sectors they are operating in, something that points the pirates towards their targets. It could be something completely random, but it will be there. I need you to go over all of the raw data we have from the attacks, everything the inspectors, sector defense navies, even the insurance groups came up with. There will be something there that we can use to find whoever is behind this operation."

Vosa winced a little then laughed shaking her head. "Well Master, I would say then it's a good thing I don't already have a social life, because that kind of work would probably kill it."

The Jedi all shared a wry chuckle, before moving in their separate directions.

 **OOOOOOO**

Later on that day Harry followed Master Fay through the streets of the capital city towards a small hall where Master Fay had been called in to preside judgment over a few family disputes. They weren't important, but they were somewhat acrimonious and outside local law jurisdiction, being entirely between two civilian parties. They could've lawyered up of course, but that would've taken them years and a lot of money. With so many Jedi on hand, it seemed more natural to ask for a Jedi's opinion on the matter. Master Fay was smiling as they walked. This was the kind of task that she felt was the second best use of Jedi the universe over: to give out neutral well-informed judgments, not fight other people's battles, but to nurture, teach, and deal out justice.

Harry didn't agree with her on that point. He felt the Jedi should be more proactive, in particular against the slave trade which was something he had never really reconciled himself to existing at all in this universe. He understood the economic reasons for it, but that didn't mean he liked it. Fay on the other hand believed the Jedi should simply make certain everyone knew there was a problem, then help the various governments or polities to shut down the slave trade themselves.

He sat with Master Fay watching as she took the various people's statements, feeling her Force senses reach out wrapping around each individual in turn as they spoke. Her words were probing, digging out the truth when they tried to hide it. Eventually in this manner she brought to light that one of the two people in the first case had lied about where he had gotten the product the dispute was about, and how much he paid for it. He had initially wanted to impress the daughter of his client, and had thought to undercut his own prices in order to do so. When he found out that the client's daughter was already engaged, that had turned to anger and feelings of betrayal, which had led to him marking up the next shipment so dramatically. Master Fay diffused things, money was exchanged, and the two went their separate ways. Their business relationship was done, but at least the growing feud meet between them was also finished.

The next two issues were more police-oriented. A young boy, a multiple offender, had been taken in by a policeman after two weeks of theft, vandalism and other small time crimes. . Nothing about his life or education hinted he should have been acting in this way. He came from a very well-to-do family, he didn't need to steal, his parents seemed happy, he had good friends who were not involved in the same acts. There didn't seem to be anything to cause his actions.

Again Master Fay, this time with Lily's help, was able to get to the bottom of things. It turned out that the boy knew his father had been having an affair, and the woman involved knew the boy knew, and had been abusive to him a time or two, as well as threatening him. Somehow the woman had convinced the boy that if he told anyone about the affair, both his father and he would be in big trouble, and as children everywhere were wont to do, he'd bottled it up, until he started to lash out.

The father was brought in, questioned severely by Master Fay, and then his mistress arrested for abuse. Whether or not the father's marriage would survive none of them knew, but none of them were willing to delve into it deeper. Affairs of the heart like that were not a Jedi's concern so long as it did not involve violence.

From there the next two cases had more to do with politics than anything personal, and area Harry was much happier to deal with them. Even if he didn't like politics at all he was better than the alternative.

This had become the normal routine since Fay and her party had settled into life here on Sorenno. The mornings from sunrise to three in the afternoon was taken up by training. The afternoon was devoted to other things. Sometimes the afternoon would be taken up with lessons on politics, healing and navigation taught by Fay or Luminara, with Luminara pitching in because she in turn sat in on Fay's lessons about the Outer Rim systems and of course healing as well. Sometimes the afternoon training would be tactics and strategy with Master Dooku and Vosa, who had found the boy as fast a learner mentally as he was physically. Vosa in turn enjoyed the time with her former Master, using his lessons as an anchor to the life she had before the mission against the Bando Gora. So all in all, this day was normal for everyone in the estate.

That normality died late that night when a ragged cry of pain and fear reverberated through the mansion. "GYAAAAAaaaahhhhhhhh!"

This wasn't the first time such a thing it happened. Early on in Luminara's care Vosa had suffered from horrible nightmares, aided no doubt by the pain giving devices imbedded in her mind. But this time it wasn't Vosa screaming, it was Harry.

"Harry, Harry, wake up please. Whatever it is it's just a dream!" Lily shouted, trying desperately to touch her son, trying to get his attention as he thrashed in his bed, his back spasming painfully as his eyes opened wide but unseeing. Once again she cursed her ghostly status as her hands faded through Harry's body with only a tiny amount of resistance.

Behind her Dooku crashed through the doorway, a Force grab ripping the knob off as Master Fay quickly followed, having been with Luminara at the far end of the mansion with Vosa, giving the girl a checkup. Dooku had actually been closer, having left the ladies and making his way to his own quarters on the other side of the wing.

Dooku quickly held the youth down, as Fay moved towards him. "Lily, with me!" she said crisply. Lily's ethereal hand settled on Fay's as she pressed her fingers against Harry's face, one finger over his scar on his forehead, the other two pressing into his eyes and the last two pressing into his cheekbones. There was a brief susurration of the Force as Fay enveloped Harry in her aura, forcefully calming Harry down. Lily's touch on Fay's hand also added the feel of Lily's presence to the technique. With that aid and Lily's soothing voice, they began to slowly bring Harry back to himself.

It took several minutes, but eventually Harry subsided back onto his bed. Fay backed away, watching him closely as Lily moved to take her son's hands in her own ethereal ones, cursing once more as her hands went through Harry's.

"What was it do you think?" Dooku asked, looking over Fay. Behind them, the door opened and Vosa walked in, her own eyes worried. Before Fay could reply he turned aside, looking at the small serving droid who had scuttled in with the young woman. "Water! No, some brandy for the shock."

"A Force vision of some kind, though what caused it or what it is about of course I cannot say," Fay replied as she answered Dooku's questions, frowning thoughtfully. "Harry has never had a vision before, indeed I have often despaired about inability to reach out into the currents of the Force outside of combat."

Before Dooku could reply Harry's eyes began to flutter, coming back to the here and now. Dooku waited a moment then pulled Harry upright, helping him lean against the wall behind his bed as the droid moved forward, reaching into a small refrigerator built into its side and pulling out a tiny glass, pouring a generous amount of local brandy into it before handing it to Dooku. Who in turn handed it to Fay. Fay held it underneath Harry's nose whispering, "Harry, drink this, child, you'll feel better."

If Harry was a more experienced Jedi he wouldn't have needed that kind of thing even after a powerful Force vision of course. But he was young, and as Fay had said this was the first Force Vision he ever had. That was always a shock to the system.

Lily whispered into her son's ear. "Calm down Harry, you're safe, you're among friends. Drink this, you'll feel better."

The two women exchanged glances as Harry did so, shuddering as the fiery brandy went down his throat, gasping and shaking his head but when he opened his eyes once more, they were lucid, hard emerald eyes, and his hand clenched around the small decanter. "Aayla is in trouble," he said simply, but those simple words were fraught with meaning.

The vision hadn't been very specific, such things never were of course. Only the most learned Masters could get any specific information out of a sudden Force visions like that, one that came upon them instead of them trying to sift through the Force to see the future. But Harry was able to explain enough to convince all of them that it was a real Force vision. Aayla tied to a table of some kind, with some sinister droid thing moving towards her, her eyes unfocused and almost mindless as hands reached for her from the darkness by the bed.

Listening to Harry describe the vision, and the feeling of dread and fear that came with it Lily wondered where Quinlan was. But then she realized that if something had happened to Aayla it had probably also happened to Quinlan.

It took Harry several hours to recover physically from the trauma, during which Fay and Lily explained to the other three Jedi how Harry and Aayla were bonded. Dooku and the others were not certain what to think about Harry's connection to Aayla. Dooku was leery about the emotions behind it, but was willing to admit that was because of all the things he had thought the Order needed to change, the rules against emotions and connections was not among them.

In contrast Vosa looked somewhat wistful as she heard about it, before shaking her head and saying, "Wait, they can see each other's thoughts? No, um, just no. I would not be comfortable with that at all, I doubt I ever would have been if I was younger and inclined to romanticism."

Luminara was concerned, for much the same reason, and at first stated that in her opinion the connection should have bene forcibly severed. She was deeply concerned about the vulnerability it created in both padawans, and the fact that Yoda had bent the rules to allow the bond to remain in place. She understood Harry's abilities were important to the Order as a whole, but to allow the boy to step so far beyond the bounds of the Order's rules? She and Fay had a very polite argument about it, and in the end she decided to take a wait and see attitude.

When Harry recovered, Lily led him to a room he had not previously entered. This was a circular room set on the fourth floor of the mansion in the dome Harry had initially thought was some kind of observatory. Inside w a massive hologram of known Republic space emanated out of the floor. It was so huge you could actually walk into it, reach up and manipulate things. "This is a jewel of my house," Dooku said simply, shaking his head lightly. "It was our spoil after the Sith occupation 2,300 years ago."

Master Fay smiled wanly at Harry. After her argument with Luminara she had contacted the temple on Coruscant in order to discover where Aayla had been sent to. Unfortunately, the Council didn't know where she was. Master Windu and the other Masters involved in actually sending Aayla on her current mission were all out of contact, taking care of their own parts of the larger operation. Master Yoda knew they should have been the inserted into Ryloth, but that hadn't happened. Quinlan had changed the plan, and no one knew how.

She spent a few moments informing Harry and Lily of this, then gestured to the massive hologram all around them. "Use the Force Harry, meditate and see if you can at least find a direction."

Harry bit his lip but nodded. This kind of thing was an area of the Force he did not perform well in, to put it mildly. Still he was willing to try for Aayla's sake. He knelt down placing his knees together as he closed his eyes, sending his thoughts out into the Force. Lily stood behind him, her ethereal hands on his shoulders, wordlessly encouraging him, and after a moment, one of Harry's hands rose to pat Lily's, passing through her hand in the normal manner.

A moment later she floated backwards as he stood up, and pointed out a single planet. "Here, I'm certain of it."

Tatooine, that is also a logical destination if they are investigating the illegal slave trade," Dooku said with a nod. I believe two Hutts have made their homes there, it would make sense for at least one of them to be involved in the slave ring. The question now is what you do about it?" Dooku frowned thoughtfully then turned to Master Fay. "Does your ship have any offensive weaponry?"

"Very few," Lily said before Master Fay could.

"In that case, I believe I will have to take one of the ships here. One of the small system patrol craft should do nicely for us." Dooku mused.

"We?" Master Fay asked.

Dooku twitched his shoulders in a half shrug, his lips twitching likewise into an almost-smile. "Recall that the Hutts are immune to mind powers, and the fact they might well have been able to hire an army of mercenaries and cutthroats. You could have to cut your way through to save this young Twi'lek padawan."

"It they get between me and Aayla being cut to pieces is going to be the **least** of their concerns," Harry said grimly. He looked up at his mother and Master Fay almost defiantly, his hand beginning to flare lightly with Force Light, a sight that made Dooku and Luminara's eyes widen.

But Lily and Fay merely laughed. "I believe the time has come to show off a bit Harry." Lily said, smirking evilly. "Let's show whoever has Aayla that taking her captive was a very, **very** bad idea."

 **OOOOOOO**

Aayla was not having fun. At first the mission had not gone nearly as horribly as she had worried it might. Quinlan and Aayla had inserted themselves relatively easily into the spacer scum that came to Tatooine, having to rely on their false identities as they had feared given the local population included several representatives of species immune to Jedi mind techniques. Quinlan had outdone himself with how he had fallen into his roll. Aayla too had pulled off a perfect little docile slave girl act if she said so herself.

They had worked their way through every Mos, which was a designation used to denote a town on this planet, in a matter of days, using their Force powers to try and discover a trail for the illegal slave ring. A few of the Mos were actually somewhat decent, being built around large farming communities. Others were the exact opposite, cities developed and used by as spaceports for spacers. And two in particular were controlled lock stock and blaster by the two Hutts who made their homes here.

After finding out which one of the two Hutts was more involved in slaving, both the legal and illegal sort out here there really wasn't that big difference between the two, they concentrated on Mos Eisley, where Jabba the Hutt had more power than Gardulla. Quinlan and Aayla again began to look around, trying to find a trail, only to run into a dead end. It turned out that while Jabba owned much of the spaceport here, he only used it for his peripheral business dealings. He had a fortress of his own complete with a small hidden landing bay where he conducted most of his business.

Eventually Quinlan and Aayla decided to insert themselves into Jabba's fortress. There were too many other races around here besides the Hutt who was immune to Jedi mind tricks, so they couldn't simply go there and blend in with the crowd.

 **Flashback:**

"But then how will we go about it? I shouldn't have to tell you this master Vos but even looking like this, I will be too tempting a target." Aayla had gestured down to herself and her currently white skin, with a few scattered dots of darker color.

"No you don't have to tell me, and I understand your concerns. But we are at a dead end here Aayla. If Jabba is involved one way or another, the only way we can move forward with this investigation is to get into his palace somehow." Quinlan scowled, shaking his head. "I could go and ask for work from him, but I doubt an itinerant smuggler without any connection to him, or at least the Desilijic clan and that would take years to set up, could stay there without being noticed. And Jabba is always within the main hall, he could see through any attempt to hide myself. I suppose I could sign on as a simple thug, but even then it's doubtful they would trust me to stay within the palace. I could manipulate a few of his men to vouch for me, see if there's work for a thug, but…"

"Given the fact we've talked to a few such and they all report being forced to leave every night, it's doubtful that doing so would get you access to what we want." Aayla finished sourly.

Quinlan began to pace the small cockpit of the tramp freighter they had been assigned for this mission, then frowned. "So, I can get a job as a gunman, that'll get me an in to the palace at least. As for you…" Quinlan's frown disappeared to be replaced by a slowly growing smile. "Tell me Aayla, that color changing trick of yours, can you do other things with it? Specifically look like you have a skin disease?"

That idea made Aayla narrow her eyes speculatively for a moment then she nodded. "Yes I can master, and I even know which one to use…"

The next day, Quinlan approached Bib Fortuna, Jabba the Hutt's majordomo who had come into the city with several dozen men in order to terrorize a few recalcitrant smugglers who had held back Jabba's tithe from their latest runs. They had done so at Quinlan and Aayla's mental suggestions for just this purpose, though it hadn't taken much nudging. They were an arrogant lot.

Quinlan approached him under the persona he'd taken so long constructing, a down on his luck smuggler, clothing matching the image, as did his lank hair and nearly beaten expression. "Lord Fortuna, may I speak to you?"

Reaching into Bib's mind with the Force, Quinlan subtly made him more susceptible to healing Quinlan out, empowering his greed and arrogance further as well. "Speak quickly human," the Twi'lek said. "I am a busy being after all."

"My name is Xevec, I am the owner of the _Maze Jumper_. It has developed a problem with its engines and I need money to repair it."

Bib's face contorted into a sneer, obviously recognizing the name. He was about to refuse to pay for its repair whatever percentage of ownership 'Xevec' offered, but Quinlan spoke before he could. "I, I have a slave girl, gifted to me in payment on a recent run. She is beautiful in form, and well worth the money needed to repair my ship. I wish to sell her to your Lord Jabba, or to you personally."

Of course Bib couldn't own his own slaves and Quinlan knew it. He was almost as much Jabba's property as any of the slaves. However, Bib could make use of his master's slaves within reason, and looking past Quinlan's shoulder he spotted the slave in question, waiting docilely behind Quinlan.

"Her name is Sarn'vetuca, she has been trained as dancer, pleasure slave, and waitress. All yours for the price of repairing my ship…" Xevec wheedled, reinforcing his words with the Force.

For a moment Bib simply stared, his long manicured nails clicking against his side. The girl was young obviously, but amazingly well-formed despite her rather lackluster color, her breasts perky and legs unblemished and long. Her Hazel eyes were also alluring, and her submissive stance told Bib she had been trained to serve since birth. For a moment he was tempted to try out the merchandise before buying, but decided against it. Lord Jabba might well kill him for that effrontery. "I believe that we can come to some deal here…"

Later that same day Bib scowled angrily, shaking his head as the medical droid moved away from Jabba's newest acquisition. It was common practice to make certain a slave had no diseases upon purchase, though some professional slavers presented papers to that effect. This time it had saved Bib from a virulent skin disease called Filthy Hide. Though beginning on the planet of Ord Padron among the humans there, it could spread to any near-human species and was particularly ugly on reptilians. "Her master cheated me!"

Lounging next to Bib on his hover bed Jabba seemed to take this downturn in fortune in stride, chuckling in amusement slapping his fat chest with one meaty arm. "That will teach you to try to buy from an unknown, fool!" He said to his majordomo in Huttese. "And he cheated me not you. But as you were the one doing the buying I will be taking it out of your pay. Still girl, you will be put to work."

Aayla replied docilely, looking for all the world as if she hadn't even known about the disease she had shifted her skin to mimic. "I live to serve masters."

 **End Flashback**

Aayla came out of her musings, one forearm automatically coming back to smack a hand away from her rear, and she turned scowling, saying in Rylothi, "You are not my master! Only my master is allowed to touch the merchandise!"

She'd seen a few of the other girls react like that, and knew it was all right. The giant slug seemed to get a kick out of it, so long as they didn't act that way towards him or his favorites.

Luckily the man who'd tried to feel her up wasn't one of those favorites. A second later one of the nearby Gamorrian guards rattled a massive battle axe at the man, who backed away quickly scowling angrily at the young Twi'lek girl.

Aayla quickly put him out of her mind though, turning back to her job, her real job and cover job. Even as she filled up her tray with drinks from the bar Aayla scanned the crowd with her eyes, almost freezing at one point and pulling back her Force powers under the strongest Force Stealth she could, not even attempting to use the Notice-Me-Not techniques. Harry's techniques caused a slight, visible splash when you first applied them, and right now that would be far too dangerous, just like trying to hide her physical presence with Force Cloak would have been. _What the Kriff is_ _ **she**_ _doing here!?_

Another woman had just walked through the doors. She was somewhat on the short side for a grown woman, though still taller than Aayla of course given their disparate ages. She was built along the same lines as Aayla too, and her skin was aqua almost close in color to Aayla's normal skin tone.

There the appearances ended. For one thing, the woman was a human derivative, with long red hair grown out in a ponytail at the back of her head, with some kind of antenna thing sticking out one side of her otherwise bald head. She wore a vest of red, and green pants and several pockets like most spacer had. On her shoulder she carried a long barreled custom-built blaster rifle, and there was a cylinder at her side which might well have been a lightsaber.

She also had the eyes of a hunter, for that was what she was. The woman's name was Aurra Sing. She was a Jedi killer, a bounty hunter without fear or conscience, and now she was here.

There were rumors about the woman that said Aurra was also a Force sensitive, hence Aayla's caution. At the very least she was able to use a lightsaber in combat almost as well as a Jedi could, so Aayla had no desire whatsoever to bring Aura's attention towards her. Aayla was good with her lightsabers, but Aurra had killed both masters and Jedi Knights in the past two years.

Aayla quickly filled her tray up with drinks, moving around the party that was always going on in the main hall of Jabba's palace, staying well away from the girl, allowing one of the other serving wenches to serve her. _Thank the Force Master Vos already left for the day!_ Her master had indeed been able to get a job as a thug, but Jabba was surprisingly organized about such things, never allowing new blood past the main hall (and unfortunately his own sight) and never allowing them to spend overlong even in the main hall.

She watched out of the corner of her eye past several people as the majordomo, at Twi'lek named Bib Fortuna moved through the crowd towards the woman. He was a particularly odious individual, one that Aayla thought was possibly the worst examples of all the more horrible, and vile things people thought Twi'leks were.

 _And he's grabby too,_ Aayla thought sourly, watching him paw one of the other girls almost absentmindedly as he led Aurra through the crowd towards the far end of the hallway where Jabba lay on his hover bed/throne.

 _Still, what in the kriff is Aurra kriffing Sing doing here?! Did someone spot Quinlan, or me? No, that's impossible. I'd put our Force Cloak's up against anyone, not just some lousy bounty hunter who just might be a Force sensitive. We can sneak up on other Jedi for goodness sake! Still, she's no regular bounty hunter, no way could Jabba have her on retainer for any length of time. So what is she here for?_

So busy was Aayla with her job and thinking about Aurra Sing that she didn't see someone else enter the palace. He came down from the hanger bay, his face and body obscured by a heavy cloak. He moved through the crowd, stopping only once as he saw caught sight of Aayla, staring hard at the side of her face visible from where she was moving through the crowd. And with her Force powers pulled in so much so that Aurra couldn't sense her, Aayla in turn could not sense the man's regard.

The man of moved through the area as if he owned the place, followed by a tall saturnine looking human male, who wore a bandolier with knives all over it, and a blaster at his hip. Only once was he challenged as he exited the hall, moving down and toward the back of the palace. A large Gamorean guard thrust his axe-staff out in front of the man blocking the passage. Before the Gamorean guard could speak however, the human had already raised his blaster, and thrust it into the Gamorean's mouth.

"Let us pass," the man in the cloak said, pulling it back slightly to reveal that he was a Twi'lek, heavyset, with the same blue skin color that Aayla normally had. He was missing one eye, and there was a mark across his neck that looked as if he had almost had his neck slashed open. "Then send someone to tell Lord Jabba that I am here. And that we might have a problem…"

 **OOOOOOO**

Later that day Aurra Sing stared at a computer screen going over the information they had on Aayla Secura and her master, which included quite a bit more than the Order possibly knew. "You're certain that girl's your niece? She doesn't look anything like this picture, hells her colors completely different, and I couldn't sense even a whisper of Force from her."

"I'm certain. I have no idea how she changed her skin color like she has, but I would know my own niece in a crowd of a thousand." Pol Secura said sharply. He was one of the heads of the slave operation that had the Jedi and his own planet's senator so incensed. Indeed, while Jabba had been the one to supply the resources, most of the planning and footwork had occurred under his watch.

Aurra stared at him for a long moment, making the man shift uncomfortably before turning to look at Jabba. Jabba nodded, and after a moment Aurra turned back to the screen to keep reading. "Do you have any Toydarians, Trandoshans or others with a good sense of smell working for you? I'll need their help to find him if he's able to use the Force to the extent that I can't already sense him the Toydarians might be able to find something. And very few Jedi realize they need to cover their scent as well."

"You will have whatever you need," Jabba said in his own language waving one meaty hand while a protocol droid translated his words for his listeners. "We cannot allow them to shut our operations down, I'm making far too much money to worry about weak Republic laws. Bring him in alive however, I will want to question him about how much his Order has already learned."

With that he chuckled voluminously, pointing at Bib Fortuna. "The girl however, probably has found some way of faking that skin disease she is supposed to have Which means you can have fun with her if you like before killing her."

"Wait! Why kill her?" said Pol Secura shaking his head quickly. "She would be worth a lot of money, she is after all a Rutian Twi'lek like me, and quite attractive to boot. You have any idea how many credits she would be to the right buyer?"

Jabba nodded his head, but his large reptilian eyes were flat. "Yes, I have a good idea of that. But I also have a good idea of how much Jedi trouble keeping her around would bring. If you can find a buyer for her within the next 24 hours, that's fine. But after that, once Bib Fortuna has had his fun, I want this Aayla creature killed immediately. I haven't built my empire this far, expanded it unseen for so long, for it all to come crashing down because the Jedi became involved because I was stupid."

Pol scowled, but nodded. "Very well, just give me the chance to try and find a buyer first. And if I cannot, record your play with her. I want to watch her suffer for her part in seeing me jailed!"

Jabba waved him off, and Bib Fortuna turned to the bodyguard that had come in with Pol. "Will you join Aurra in her hunt?"

The two bounty hunters looked at one another and shook their heads rapidly. "That's my money and my kill," Aurra said angrily to Bib.

"Bounty hunters tend not to work well together, unless we've set ourselves up as part of a group." Said the human male with a shrug. "Though I'll help you capture the girl at least."

"That will be simple, and there will no need to pay you for the work!" Jabba said with a laugh, his deep booming chuckle echoing around the control room as he gestured to one wall. A droid situated there began to manipulate controls, and several video cameras came up, little holograms popping into existence from several holders on Jabba's large hover bed.

A few of them showed live footage from the slave quarters, two large rooms where all the female slaves were kept in each with their own small cubicle carved into the rock of the palace as beds. Four girls were currently changing out of their outfits. Jabba was somewhat generous in terms of clothing as he never wanted to see a girl wear the same thing one after another, though of course all of the clothing was very brief. Two of them were sponging themselves off with a small bit of precious water, the only thing they were allowed to clean themselves with, while Aayla was pulling herself up into her bed cubicle.

She looked around as the cameras came online, subtly, but Jabba now knew what to look for as Aayla subtly covered her body as she got into bed. It was evident that the Jedi's force powers had warned her she was being watched, but there was little she could do to saver herself from the threat to come. Indeed, the idea that she would sense it coming merely added to Jabba's amusement. "I will simply gas them all, and then when that is done one of us will go in and retrieve her.

At Jabba's order another droid tapped a few buttons and gas began to come out of nozzles set into the floor and walls of the slave's quarters. It was tasteless, scentless and unseen. Even Aayla, tense as she was, only noticed it as the two women sitting on the floor cleaning themselves succumbed quickly, falling onto their sides.

Jabba watched as the young Jedi leaped other feet, summoning up some kind of Force technique that made Aura, watching from nearby narrow her eyes in surprise. But the shield, if that was what it was, didn't keep the gas out, and the Twi'lek girl attempted to hold her breath. Jedi could probably hold their breaths for a long time, but the gas wasn't an inhalant but rather absorbed through the skin. A second later the young Jedi gasped, falling back against the side of the cavern, slowly dropping to her knees.

"You see, that was easy!" Jabba said, shaking his hand with a chuckle before turning serious. "Her master, this Kiffar, Vos, will be a tougher fight."

Aurra smirked evilly. "Jedi aren't really that tough if handled appropriately Lord Jabba. They are noble creatures, and that can be used against them. I'll handle Vos, don't worry."

 **OOOOOOO**

Moving through Mos Eisley Quinlan avoided everyone else around him by rote, using Force Cloak and Stealth almost absent-mindedly as he concentrated on thinking about what else he could be doing to help the investigation. Having putting most of the weight of finding actual evidence on Aayla's thin shoulders he wanted this mission done as soon as possible.

 _If Aayla can figure out if Jabba is connected to this illegal slave trade, we won't be able to move against him here._ The Hutt was simply too strong on Tatooine, with a literal battalion's worth of toughs to call upon. _But we might not have to. If we can trace a connection from him back to Ryloth, we can go from there and wrap up the tentacles of the slave trade which are actually in Republic space shutting off the source of the slaves at said source. Further, that would show Jabba the Order knows about his evolvement. Jabba's a careful creature, if a prideful one and he would pull back from Republic space rather than dare our further involvement._

But Quinlan was never one to leave anything to chance. And if they couldn't attack Jabba out right, that didn't mean they couldn't tried to assassinate him if it came to that. Quinlan was a pragmatist, and while he had a Jedi's respect for life, he loathed Hutts with a very un-Jedi like passion, and slavers were even worse. _He'll be in public during the Mos Espa pod races in two days. That would be the best time to do it. I'll head there tonight, scout out the lay of the land, find a..._

Just then he heard an explosion somewhere nearby, and felt the deaths of at least three people through the Force, their last moments filled with pain and fear. Turning quickly Quinlan looked in that direction, seeing fire explode out of the door and windows of one of the houses set along the edge of the town. Through his Force senses he could also feel two other people inside the blazing inferno, though from here he could only barely make out their panicked cries.

At this time of day there weren't many people in this section, and those that were had begun to run away at the explosion, uncaring that there might still be living people within the house. For a brief heartbeat Quinlan stood unmoving, then cursing raced towards the fire intent on doing what he could.

He had just reached the fire when the two lives inside were snuffed out, and the building exploded, sending stone shrapnel in all direction. Quinlan quickly ducked away, raising his hand to aid in directing the Force to ward off the shrapnel heading towards him. But the explosion hadn't begun to die down before a sudden flare from his Force Precognition hit Quinlan. _It's a trap!_

Rolling away Quinlan dodged an incoming blaster bolt that would have taken him in the back before pulling out his activating it just in time to intercept another bolt of super-heated plasma. Turning in the direction the shots had come from Quinlan flung off his cloak between rounds before moving forward to block blocked two more. Falling into a defensive stance Quinlan now moved forwards randomly towards the position of the blaster bolts, leaping around and bouncing off the walls of the nearby stone houses to close faster. Despite that the blasters still tracked him unerringly, and Quinlan had to admire the gunman's speed and accuracy.

Leaping up onto the roof the blasters were coming from, he stared for a split second at a blaster rifle set on a pintle mount. The gun was firing automatically set up at with a small sensor of some kind. "Kriff!" He shouted, pushing himself up and off the roof of the building as it, like the one he had initially responded to, exploded underneath him. The rock shrapnel caught his legs despite his attempt to put some distance between himself and the explosion, but thanks to his Force Precognition he had jumped just in time to avoid serious injury, and he quickly pushed the pain from the impacts and cuts away with the Force.

Quinlan hit the desert floor, rolling only to once more feel the Force warning him of a nearby threat. He turned just in time to block a lightsaber attack at his back, and he stared at his attacker recognizing her just as Aayla had. "Aurra Sing!"

Having a visible enemy in front of him Quinlan actually let a smirk appear on his face. A use of Ataru he pressed Aurra back leaping around, forcing her to backpedal under a flurry of attacks from every direction, his lightsaber blade moving with speed and precision. "You'll find I'm a little different than your normal targets!"

"That's right, you are!" Aurra grunted her speed barely able to keep up with Quinlan's and his lightsaber coming just a little too close to cutting her. "You're even more gullible!" She ducked under one his blows, her free hand pulling out another lightsaber from her belt, stabbing upward.

Yet Quinlan recovered his balance too quickly, putting his lightsaber between this thrust and his body carrying the blue of her blade to the side with his own dark green one. Kicking out he caught Aurra in the stomach sending the slighter woman skittering backwards, unable to even cut at his leg before he had flipped himself up and backwards out of her range. His feet touched the sand, and Quinlan once more hurled himself towards Aura. He didn't care why she had attacked him, or how she had even detected his presence, all he wanted to do was deal with the enemy in his way right now.

Aurra seemed surprised at the ferocity of his attack, but then Quinlan had caught many a fellow Jedi off balance with the bruising nature of the pace he could set in a duel, or how aggressive he was. But despite being pushed back, Aurra didn't panic, and actually led Quinlan towards another building which she had rigged like the first two. Jumping backwards quickly she used the Force herself to leap up and over the wall of said building, igniting the mine set against the wall of it as she did.

It was only his Force precognition that allowed Quinlan to throw himself away but this time he grunted in pain as his back was perforated by several bits of shrapnel, and he rolled desperately, shaking his head and trying to fight back the pain with the Force. _Damn it, I should have just shielded, not only this time but the times before! I'm acting like an amateur here, have to get over the surprise at the ambush and start controlling my emotions! I need to think!_

He didn't have long to get over the pain or prepare himself however, because then Aurra was on him once more cutting down hard. Quinlan rolled forward, gasping as her lightsaber caught him in the leg, slicing away a bit of his fleshy part of his calf. But since he had already been using the Force to keep the pain away, Quinlan was still able to fight.

Quinlan brought up his lightsaber to block a few blows, but Aurra knew she had the advantage now. The cut to his leg badly hampered Quinlan's movement hurting Quinlan's ability to fight even more than it would have another Jedi given his style of Ataru. Aayla used that ruthlessly, turning and forcing him to use that leg more. Another stinging blow from Aura's lightsaber cut across his shoulder, not deep, he blocked enough to keep the lightsaber from searing into his skin, but enough to cause that arm to fall to Quinlan's side, the pain too much for him to keep using it despite deadening the pain with the Force as much as possible.

But Quinlan wasn't finished yet. In reply he twisted to the side, dodging Aura's second lightsaber and aiming for her first. She pulled back in time to save her hand but his blow sliced cleanly through the emitter at the top of her lightsaber right above her hand.

"Kriff you Jedi!" Snarling Aurra pulled her second lightsaber up and towards Quinlan's now unprotected body. There was no way he could interpose his lightsaber in time to save him.

To her shock Quinlan didn't even try. Instead his injured arm rose from his side and suddenly something like a shield of Force power appeared around it, blocking her lightsaber. Aurra stared in shock as her lightsaber fizzled and hissed against that shield, never even seeing Quinlan's lightsaber come around, bisecting her from one shoulder to the other.

"Die, murderer." Quinlan gasped out, backing away from the bounty-hunter's body, a wave of exhaustion now hitting him like a hammer between the eyes. This wasn't the first time he had to use a Force Shield in battle, but he hadn't used them against lightsabers before outside spars with his own padawan, and that on top of the strain of using the Force to deal with the pain of his wounds and the blood loss from the wounds in his back was exhausting.

Yet Quinlan's fight wasn't done. He twisted around, nearly collapsing as he was forced to pivot on his wounded leg, his lightsaber barely deflecting a series of plasma bolts coming at him from nearby. Over the sizzle and fizzing noise of the bolts impacting his blade and the pounding of his own ears he heard a voice shout "The bounty bitch is dead, means more creds for us! Down the Jedi, he's already hurt!"

"Kriff it!" Quinlan shouted, losing his Jedi self-control, which he had never really had that much of in any event, once more. His lightsaber still moved this way and that, blocking or deflecting the blaster bolts back to his attackers, but he could feel his body beginning to fail, and couldn't concentrate enough to call up another Shield. The blow to his leg and the shrapnel in his back, which was still bleeding, was sapping his strength.

He tried to turn and move away from the ambush point, but wasn't able to before several stun bolts came at him from another side street, and he fell, unconscious next to Aura's body. He never saw the trio of humans who came down the street towards him. The last thing he heard was, "Fools, Lord Jabba want's the Jedi alive for questioning, the bounty bitch might've well been killed herself for disobeying that order. Tie him up and let's get going."

 **OOOOOOO**

"I can't feel her!" Harry moaned, shaking his head, his hands grabbing at his hair as his eyes shut in pain, his psyche questing out trying to find the now silent connection to Aayla. "I can't feel her!"

Harry, please calm down!" Lily commanded, wishing **again** that she had a physical body so that she could comfort her son. Fay was doing an alright job, her arm around Harry and her Force powers around his mind, trying to calm him down. But Harry was in no mental state to let her do so, and tried to shake her off physically. It was only when Lily's own ethereal hand touched his own that Harry began to calm down.

"Tell us more Harry, if you can't how are we supposed to help her?" Fay asked calmly, reasonably, hoping to calm Harry down just as much with her tone as her words. "What do you mean that you can't feel her?"

"I," Harry paused, thinking. They were rushing through hyperspace towards Tatooine, and the two of them, Harry and Aayla were now closer then Harry could remember them being since the last time they had physically seen one another. As such he should've been getting more out of their link, not admittedly enough to exchange thoughts, direct thought exchanges apparently had a light-speed limit. You couldn't do it without being in the same solar system.

But he wasn't getting any information anymore. "There was a moment of panic Masters, a sudden realization I think. She tried to reach out to me, but something happened, and she, she fell asleep? No not sleep, her mind shut off, so unconscious? And I can't find her! Without her mind actually active, I don't know where she is!"

"All right Harry," Fay replied soothingly. "Keep some of your attention on the link, we're coming out of hyperspace soon, so we'll be able to start trying to find Aayla quickly. Just keep calm."

The last thing either Fay or Lily wanted was for Harry to start reaching out to the Force in anger or frustration. The corrosive effect of doing so was something neither one wanted to contemplate happening to Harry.

From the cockpit of the small system patrol craft Dooku came through to the equally small sitting room, nodding his head to both women and Harry. "Master Fay is correct, we will be coming out of hyperspace within 5 minutes. Tatooine has a remarkably shallow gravity shadow, so we'll be almost on top of the planet itself. I did the piloting personally, and as you know Jedi can always do a little bit better there than even asked her back droids. I would make it about an hour before we are able to touch down on the planet. I don't expect we'll have any issues of course, but we should be ready to begin our search promptly."

As they came out of hyperspace, Harry was still concentrating more on the connection between himself and Aayla than on the physical plane around him. He nearly smacked his forehead into the hatch of the cockpit, only a gentle Force Push downwards on his head from Master Fay saved him from possibly concussing himself. But it was his attention on the connection between Aayla and himself that saved her so Harry might well have thought a concussion was well worth the price.

 **OOOOOOO**

Aayla groggily became aware of the world around her, her eyes fluttering in their sockets and she groaned, muttering in standard, "What the heck hit me?"

"Nothing yet, I wanted you awake for this," said a sinister voice, though at first Aayla could not place where she had heard it before. Then Bib Fortuna leered town at her, and Aayla suddenly realized that she was naked, and that she was tied down to a bed of some kind. He reached down, one nail running around her nipple, and Aayla tried to back away, tried to reach for the Force. But she couldn't, her mind was still too groggy, the drugs in her system inhibiting her badly, even her emotions were disjointed, cloudy.

A medical droid hovered behind Bib, and he laughed evilly. "You were made my dear. You and your Master are both dead now, it's just a matter of time. Of course, if you make it worth my while, I might be persuaded to let you live a little longer…" he said leering down at her.

But Aayla was so out of it she couldn't even process the words, and he sighed. "Pity, that gas seems to have a longer effect on Twi'leks than it would humans, but oh well, I'll still have my fun. First however we'll have to give you another injection just to make sure you stay… compliant. And another one to take that a little further. You'll enjoy yourself my dear, whether you want to or not…"

 _No,_ Aayla thought, staring at the droid as it came towards her, a needle pointing out from it and heading towards her arm. _**No!**_ But she couldn't do anything, her mind was still too groggy still out of it and she felt fear and despair welling within her…

But then there was another mind there. Suddenly Harry was there, his arms around her mentally, their connection flaring in her head as he reached through it. Somehow he used that connection to take control of her own body, pushing her own Force through her body in the techniques needed s to purge her body of the drug. Within one moment and the next his voice was in her head, a clarion call. _"_ _ **Aayla! I'm here!**_ _"_

Bib Fortuna watched in shock as Aayla's hazel eyes suddenly cleared of the gas in her system. A finger rose, and suddenly the droid was flying backwards shattered from a blast of compressed air, then another sent Bib flying backwards to land broken against the far wall.

Freeing herself from her restraints took Aayla a bit longer, because with Harry's senses still riding her own Aayla refused to look at her own body, something which won a relieved laugh from him. Conjuring up some fire to weaken the plastic restraints, blue fire something that Mistress Lily had taught her, unable to burn skin but quite able to burn anything else, Aayla pulled her hands out after a few moments. Working at her wrists and wincing Aayla looked around the small cubicle anxiously. Luckily Bib had wanted to be alone to have his fun, so only he and the droid had been in the room. But she was still unarmed for the moment, and still naked.

" _Let me help with that,"_ Harry said, once again reaching through her mind. Aayla was okay at Transfiguration of small things, and was extremely good at using projectiles. Several spars she had on Coruscant had ended when she suddenly conjured up a few needles from behind or around her opponent, hurling them each at a different target while also pressing her attack from the front. No other Padawan could handle that kind of thing, though her own master had done so easily.

But clothing was still somewhat beyond Aayla even now since she hadn't been able to experiment with it often while at the Temple. Now however she visualized her clothing in her mind, and Harry helped her, working with her, their mental hands clasped together fit to never let go again and… suddenly Aayla was holding up several bits of clothing.

Harry blinked, but resolutely also pulled slightly away from the link as Aayla ordered him to, and she pulled on her clothing quickly. When she was done, she looked down at herself and allowed Harry to do the same through her eyes. _"This is very weird, and I'd really rather you not use my senses like this, but under the circumstances Harry, I can only say thank you."_

"Thank you!" Aayla did **not** like how her voice trembled there when she spoke aloud, or the shivering feeling the felt even in her mental palace. She was not some kriffing damsel in distress! This was an aberration, it would not happen again!

Harry's joyful laugh banished her irritation, and again all she could do was send out a sort of mental hug. Not willing to send her astral projecting into her mental palace and meet him face to face just yet, it was more of a feeling that a fact. _"I missed you!"_ They both shouted suddenly, both mentally and aloud, and then they laughed before Aayla resolutely returned her attention to her present straits. _"I have to bet that someone's going to come and check up on Bib in a while. Where are you?"_

" _We're just coming into atmosphere: me, Master Fay and Master Dooku."_

Aayla bobbed her head in surprise, setting her lekku to swaying as she blinked, astonished. _"Master Dooku! He wasn't, that is he's not taking missions any longer! He retired to his home planet with his former padawan and Master Unduli right?"_ Master Dooku had regularly taught at the Temple, being a master lightsaber duelist, and she'd actually had a class or two with a hologram based on his teachings. _"What have you been up to Harry?"_

" _Getting lightsaber instruction the past few weeks,"_ Harry said laughing. _"Master Fay doesn't use a lightsaber, remember?"_

"Oh yes," Aayla muttered aloud and mentally, looking down at her side for a moment where her lightsabers should rest. She was a Jar'kai user, though like Zule though she knew that she had a lot to learn. Master Giiet had started them both down that road, and she'd learned quite a bit, but this was going to be the first time she'd had to use her lightsabers in real combat, and she didn't even have them. Lovely.

" _Summon them to you,"_ Harry said in her mind. _"Shouldn't that work?"_

Aayla bit her lip in thought for a moment, thinking of where her lightsabers would be. She and Quinlan had stowed them in a small cleaning droid, one of dozens that cleaned the Jabba's palace just in case the first night she had been here. But it had been assumed that one or the other would be in the same room with the droid, able to command it to release them, and get at them physically. Still it wasn't like it would cost her anything to attempt it. _"I suppose I could try…"_

Harry wordlessly held out a mental hand, giving of his own Force powers not even directing them now, letting Aayla take what power she needed for this. This was like the gestalt any group of Jedi could create, something that no Sith or wizard would have been able to. Yet their version was deeper, and Harry was **powerful** , which made a difference.

Holding up her hands Aayla closed her eyes for a moment in order to help her visualize the little droid, sending out her Force senses. It looked like a sort of bug creature but with wheels instead of feet, a black scarab back, with some kind of sucker on the bottom to soak up liquids, dust and other things. The one they used had a small white dot on one of its legs, and she found it quickly despite the fact it wasn't truly alive.

It was on the far side of this very floor, closer than Aayla had thought, but still quite a ways away given the size of this palace. Even so, she found it and then found her lightsabers within the droid, her Force senses skittering around them, the two crystals she'd used in their creation positively singing with her powers. That had been an idea from Master Lily from years ago which Aayla had followed up on: that awhile Jedi might not need focuses, they could still imbue their power into artifacts, and Aayla had done so with those crystals.

Gathering herself and taking liberally from Harry's Force powers, she directed her Force 'hands' to grab at her lightsabers, and pulled them towards her, 'yanking' **hard**.

The Force pull was so powerful it ripped the droid apart to the astonishment of several guards nearby, who had gathered to hopefully take their turns with Aayla after Bib was finished with her. They stared in shock at the spiraling silver hilts before they slammed end on into the wall shattering it with how fast they were going as a 'Boom!' echoed around the room, shattering eardrums and throwing people aside. Several booms later, the lightsabers had shattered several more walls in their way as the guards, holding their hands up to bleeding ears stared after them. "What the kriff was that?!"

In the small cubicle Aayla leaped up into the air, her hands flashing out to grab her lightsabers out of the air, activating them with a flourish before she came down, grinning now. _"Interesting,"_ Harry said thoughtfully, his clinical tone taking her somewhat aback for a moment before she too stared down at her lightsabers. _"The Force grab also protected them, funny that. Or was that somehow carried over into the technique by your unconscious mind?"_

" _Analyze later,"_ Aayla ordered, cutting the door to ribbons and marching out, her eyes alight with battle light, eager to cut down anyone who got her way. Harry's soothing presence calmed her down somewhat, but Aayla felt that she had a right to be a little **irritated** right now given what it almost just happened to her.

" _Will be there soon Aayla, and you won't have to do it all alone,"_ Harry said, and Aayla got the impression that he was standing up from a chair, already moving towards the hatchway.

" _I know Harry, I'll meet you someplace inside I supposEE!"_ Her mental words cutting off as she concentrated on her physical environment, her lightsabers flashing up to block incoming blaster bolts.

Several more of the guards had responded to the emergency klaxon from the first few, rushing down into the prison cells. At the sight of a Jedi Knight, after all, if you someone had a lightsaber in your hand their hand you didn't take the time to notice the individual's age, they began to fire immediately shouting, "Jedi! She's free, call for backup!"

Aayla crouched, her lightsabers flashing in front of her in an intricate defense, and then Harry said a few words, while still giving of his own power. Aayla had known for years that Harry was far and away more powerful than she was in the Force, it was only now that she was realizing just how much so.

She wasn't jealous about it, the very idea was unthinkable. How could she be, when Harry was so selfless with what he did with it and how much he gave of himself? But at the moment the words in Aayla's mind mattered almost as much as the power thrumming through her. _"Mum says that we can start showing off now."_

" **Yes**!" Aayla caroled aloud, and more than one guard exchanged a glance hearing it over the sound of blaster bolts and sizzling hum of her lightsabers. They didn't have long to wonder what it meant though, as Aayla reached forward with the Force. A Force Shield appeared defending half of her body and she gestured with her other hand. Suddenly blasts of air flew from her outstretched hand, impacting with bone shattering force, followed by tiny fireballs hurling several of the guards backward with screams of shock.

Aayla advanced down the corridor, her lightsabers still flashing occasionally to batter back blaster bolts, but using your Force powers now just as much. She couldn't concentrate on more than a few attacks at the same time, but her lightsabers and her Force Shield kept her safe, with Harry's power to tap into the shield didn't even take any power at all. This allowed Aayla to concentrate on her offense, much to the detriment of the guards facing her.

That was until someone had the bright idea of activating the prison cells cellblocks robotic defenses. Aayla turned quickly, her lightsabers flaring out either side of her as a quad laser on top of a small pintle mount in the ceiling opened up on her. She summoned up another shield then hurled that shield forward, slamming into the people of the far end before redirecting the blaster bolts with her lightsaber back to the laser in the ceiling. It flashed, flared then died, and she quickly turned racing a way as two more popped up from high up on the walls.

A second later she was in among the guards, her lightsabers cutting them into pieces while she used their bodies to protect herself from the quad lasers and summoned up several small rock shards sending them back towards the lasers. A moment later, Aayla was clear for now, but she could already hear the trump of many feet towards her. "This is going to be a long day," Aayla muttered, before centering herself in the Force once more, moving forward resolutely.

 **OOOOOOO**

Harry kept up a running commentary of what was going on as the ship zoomed through the atmosphere towards where he was pointing. They took a while to actually find the palace, it blended in with the surrounding mountain so well and there was a bit of a sandstorm going on at present as well. Fay however dealt with the sandstorm, reaching out with her Force powers to gently shunt it around the palace, though the effort was rather power consuming. That much air and controlling that much power was very draining over that wide area.

Even as she did so, Dooku noted several antiair guns popping up around the palace, training in on them quickly. Dooku brought the ship down, its heavy weapons, two turbolaser turrets set into the front of the patrol craft opening fire on the antiair weapons. But Jabba's palace also had a shield, which flared into existence a second before the bolts impacted.

The ship and the palace exchanged glances blows for few moments before the ship was down past the antiair gun's envelope. The ship's shields had been pounded flat, and its sides scorched but it was generally intact. A moment later the three Jedi and Lily were outside. The palace's shields however were still up, cutting them off from the entrance to the landing bay.

Several people had come out onto the bay's small observation deck, and began to fire at them, but Dooku almost absentmindedly blocked the blasts with his lightsaber, while Harry did so with some difficulty. This was the first time he'd faced people with blasters with his lightsaber after all. However as the seconds ticked by, he got better at it which Dooku noted with approval.

Fay had no lightsaber and took refuge behind the two other Jedi. But she also was a master of telekinesis. She reached through the shield grabbing the ships inside the docking area, including the massive, and very ugly in her, opinion ship that was probably Jabba's personal yacht. Then she wrenched her hands apart, and suddenly the ships were flying every which way, crashing and blasting against one another people and the walls of the hangar Bay resulting in a massive crashing boom and shriek of tortured metal.

One of the ships smashed into the side of the shield generator, and the shield sputtered and went out, allowing the Jedi entrance. Lily had already zoomed ahead, eager to scout out the territory.

She came back quickly as they moved through the dock, pointing at the entrances one after another. "That one goes up, there looks to be several security positions up there for antiair fire, they were manned, but the troops from them are coming down. This one goes down into some kind of receiving hall, eventually anyway it whines for several stories. That one leads to in a giant elevator, given what I know of Hutt physiology I suppose that is the entrance the slug with pretensions of grandeur uses to get around. Those two lead to deeper into the palace." Lily reported.

"Aayla is in that direction," Harry said pointing down slightly to the right on a diagonal from his current position while Dooku dealt with the last few defenders in the hanger bay. "She's freed a few slaves, but most of them are either too drugged or too docile to be of help and now she's just holding the corridor leading into the slave pens. It apparently shared a security post with the prison cells. In Aayla's words a prisoner was just a slave in the making."

Harry scowled angrily, spitting to one side and Dooku grabbed his shoulder, shaking him lightly. "Calm yourself padawan, remember anger leads to the Dark Side. Righteous anger as you are feeling is well and good, but it can be a door to less controllable forms of anger."

"Yes Master Dooku," Harry replied, calming down slightly.

"Good," Dooku said clapping a hand on the young man's shoulder and smiling down at him approvingly. If his first padawan had seen that look, he might well have keeled over in shock, but that was neither here nor there. "Now come."

"We should probably cut those people coming down from the turrets off so they can't attack us from the rear," Master Fay said, breathing in deeply. Moving the ships like that on top of her earlier exertions had tired her out for a moment. Reaching forward with her own Force powers perceptions, Fay felt several dozen minds everywhere, some of them racing down corridors to them.

"Harry!" she said crisply, pointing at the several of the corridors he Lily had explained. "Block those up."

Dooku watched interestedly as Harry nodded. Instead of using the debris and moving it all into place however he simply conjured up several large blocks of stone filling the corridors with them. "Why didn't you do use the debris?" Dooku asked, his eyes narrowed. _Material creation, astonishing and yet another sign that Yoda was right to allow Harry and Lily their head as he did._

"It's all interconnected Master and fouled up with one another master. It was simply easier to conjure them up like that."

"For you perhaps," Dooku said with a faint tick of his lips, amused at the boy's powers. The fact that he had already begun to experiment himself with them and looked forward to learning further had something to do with his amusement of course. "For now let us move. Even with your powers we can't afford to be bogged down Padawan."

Harry inclined his head in acknowledgement then moved forward with Master Dooku with Fay bringing up the rear.

As they moved down from the hanger bay the Jedi ran into several security stations, each with a few guards and automated defenses. Jabba might have thought himself secure out here but he was also a paranoid slug. And he had a small army of toughs on call. The only things that allowed the attackers any advantage was the way they were attacking, the fact Jabba's troops couldn't surround them, and their Force powers.

As they went Fay would reach out, using her unique abilities to shut down the minds of anyone trying to circle around them from the various side corridors or soothing the minds of the various slaves, telling them to be calm or ready to leave, the whispers of her words seeming to come from their own minds. After all, while this might be a rescue operation for one particular Twi'lek girl, there was no reason why they couldn't save all the other slaves here. This, Harry and Dooku's ability allowed them to make progress regardless of what the defenders tried to do to stop them. In particular the lesson to never use grenades against Jedi was proven time and time again.

Eventually the Jedi worked their way downwards into the main hall where they found several hundred people waiting for them behind hastily erected defenses. There was a moment of stillness as the three Jedi stepped from the corridor out into the open of the which ended as Jabba shouted in Huttese from his position at the back of the hall on his grav sled. A droid stood nearby translating his exhortations to his troops. "Get them, kill them, a million credits to whoever kills a Jedi! You will pay for this effrontery Jedi!"

Using a bit of Force power on his board to project his voice over the sounds of battle Dooku let his and Harry's shields take the flurry of blaster bolts as he shouted. "Jabba the Hutt! Have your people stand down, or they and you will die! We are here to retrieve our fellow Jedi. Submit and you will live!"

Master Fay shook her head at the wording, but Master Dooku caught her motion. "Jabba won't back down whatever I say. He can't, given this attack on his place of power and retain face in front of his minions. But we can use this moment as a bit of a teaching tool for any survivors. They attacked Aayla and Quinlan the moment they realized they were Jedi. I mean to point out the fact that attacking Jedi whatever the reason is a very bad idea."

"Never! Invaders to my home, you will all die here!" Jabba said in his own language, and he once again exhorted his people to press their attack.

Dooku sighed, moving out into the corridor from the hall, his lightsabers up and protecting him as Harry powered his own lightsaber down, and began to conjure up fantastical beasts and creatures, sending them forward to do battle with the horde. He also began to use illusions, after all his opponents weren't Jedi or all immune to such things now.

Despite his bluster Jabba was already retreating as the Jedi moved out of the corridor into the hall, his people retreating too. The reason for this was apparent as a massive doorway across the hall from their entrance way opened, and a giant Rancor roared out, heading towards the first targets he saw, which happened to be the Jedi.

"Oh my," Fay murmured, stepping around Harry quickly, and raising her hand. What would've taken any other Jedi at least a few moments and some concentration took Fay a bare second of looking into the beast's eyes. Its charge stumbled to a halt, and it leaned down, snuffling at her hand. The blaster bolts coming from the far end of the whole trailed off and all of good the goons could only stare in shock as their lord's trump card was dealt with so easily.

"He's a local boy, aren't you pretty one?" Fay murmured, rubbing under the thing's chin.

"Kind of ugly though?" Harry quipped, leaping onto the rancor's shoulder and then off it, his lightsaber activating as he hurled it forward, covering himself in a shield as the blaster bolts once again began to rattle.

"Never let your lightsaber go like that in battle padawan, it is showy nonsense!" Dooku shouted as he raced around the rancor although he could not argue with the results. Harry's lightsaber had cut into several quad lasers along the hallways ceiling, before returning to his hand, slipping through the Force Shield that protected him.

"Yes Master I'll remember that," Harry said glibly, and Dooku spared a moment to promise himself to smack the fool boy upside the head later before they were in among the defenders, hacking them down.

 **OOOOOOO**

"Mother Lily!" Aayla said, grinning at the Force Ghost shoved her head through the wall along one corridor. "Does that mean Harry's nearby?"

"They're in the main hall Aayla," Lily replied, giving the girl once over. Aayla had been tagged by some rock shrapnel on one shoulder, and seared by a near miss along her leg, but that was all the damage that Lily could see. She breathed a sigh of relief, moving forward to give the girl one of her ethereal hugs, which Aayla didn't return, since her hands were full of lightsaber. She doubted that stabbing Lily with them would do anything, but she wasn't about to find out.

"You're looking magnificent my dear," she said, leaning back and taking in Aayla's form less clinically now. Of course over the Hypercom most of what the participants saw was face, so this was a first time Lily had seen Aayla's entire body in years, and to say that she was going to be a beautiful looking woman was an understatement. At 15 she was already attractive, and still has some growing to do.

"I'll show you the way," she said, turning and moving as Aayla and went back to cutting open doors for the various slaves, urging them to follow her.

 **OOOOOOO**

The fight in the main Hall was still going on, with more people arriving from the rest of the palace, but there weren't enough of them to matter, not with Harry's conjured creatures everywhere, his spikes of power slamming out, or Dooku's lightsaber cutting them to ribbons in close. Dooku forged his way through them, his lightsaber returning every bolt towards him his Force Shield didn't absorb, as all around him people retreated quickly trying to open the range further, ignoring Jabba's shouts to protect him as he tried frantically to open the door to the elevator.

But thanks to Fay's suggestion Harry had done far too good a job of bollixing the elevator down from where it had come out on the hanger bay for that work. Jabba turned, ordering his hover sled to take him down another corridor, but before he could retreat further Dooku was there, and Jabba frantically slammed out with his tail.

The speed of it would have taken most people by surprise, but not a Jedi. Dooku's lightsaber flashed up, cutting the tail into pieces, before Dooku twisted around, bringing his lightsaber up and around and slicing into and through Jabba's head right below the eyes. The top half skidded off the bottom, sizzling slightly from the heat of the lightsaber's passage, and even a Hutt could not live with that large a portion of its brain missing.

Turning Dooku found that Harry had finished dealing with the last of the goons who are still trying to fight, of which there were few and far between at this point. Several dozen had surrendered, kneeling on the ground with their hands in the air, where they had been bound by conjured stone manacles. "Why stone?" he asked quietly as he came out of the elevator looking over at Harry.

He had just realized that if anyone realized that it was solely Harry who could do much of what he had just shown during this battle, the youth might well have painted a giant target on his back. Admittedly the scum here were not very intelligent, but even so, it might be very dangerous for Harry. _Force damn it, I should have thought about that before this fight! Still nothing for it now but to erase any footage. Hopefully none of these fools will be able to put it all together, but we can still do some things to confuse the issue._

Cocking his head quizzically, Harry also spoke in low tones, and Dooku nearly breathed a sigh of relief at the boy's perspicacity. "Stone is simple Master Dooku, it's a single element, whereas steel is a little harder to visualize the way you really want it to unless you have an example on hand. I could do iron I suppose, but stone was the first thing I thought of."

"Understandable given our environment," Dooku said. "But that kind of supposition is something you might want to be aware of in the future."

"Yes Master Dooku," Harry said politely, smirking over at the older man who allowed his lips to quick upwards slightly.

Then he smacked Harry upside the head. "That for that bit of grandstanding with your lightsaber. You could've done the same thing in multiple different ways using your Force, and not put yourself in such danger. Your powers do not make you immortal do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Master Dooku," Harry said somewhat more docilely now knowing that man had a point, but Harry was still somewhat riding high on the feeling of Aayla being so close. It was literally indescribable to him being this close to her.

"Good, for now padawan I think we need to work on hiding your special abilities." Dooku quickly explained why that was necessary, and then the two of them put on a bit of a pantomime.

Dooku gestured at the surrounding illusions and animals one after another, and they disappeared, seemingly at his direction while Harry remained, moving from one prisoner to another making certain they were secure. In this fashion they created the illusion that it had been Dooku's power all along which created the creatures and did most of the damage. While odd, Dooku was a renowned Jedi Master, and his abilities, even ones like this, would not make for nearly as much talk as it would have if they came from Harry.

After they finished that, Dooku moved over to a few dead bodies where he had noticed a few grab a nearby thermal detonator. After having watched what happened to others who attempted to use the thermal detonators against the Jedi, the owner of said hadn't wanted to use them. Flicking them on Dooku then hurled them into the elevator before closing the door just as it went off, shredding Jabba's body. It never hurt to be thorough after all.

This was the scene that Aayla saw as she came up from deeper into the palace.

Dooku was busy organizing the prisoners to stand up and be moved towards the entrance, Fay was just leading the rancor past them, and out into the environment beyond, its hands full of dead goons and gangsters of various type, after all, food was food. And Harry was standing there, looking at the dead bodies scattered throughout the hall, a wan forlorn expression on his face. He had killed before of course, but now that the battle was over, all he could feel was sadness that so many sentients, admittedly scum of the universe, had died.

The moment they spotted one another the rest of the environment faded into the background. Even the slaves pushing past Aayla barely registered to her.

Harry had turned as she entered, a bright happy grin of welcome on his face, sheer joy at meeting her in person for the first time in years suffusing his features, banishing his thoughts of the dead. Aayla too was beaming like a loon.

Nearby Fay and even Dooku held back grins of their own at the feeling of the Force around them, the feel of the emotions of the meeting almost intoxicating. Moreover as the padawans laid eyes on one another there was a bright peeling note of Light in the Force flaring out from them to practically encompass the entire planet. It was as if the Force itself was exultant at this meeting.

Of course on top of the emotional aspect of meeting after so long was the first impressions of the two physically. After all, they were teenagers and even Jedi who had gone through the 'indoctrination process' as Lily put it had hormones. And Harry hadn't gone through said indoctrination.

Aayla stood at about 5 foot three, and was currently wearing a pair of trousers and a long shirt. After weeks of wearing what amounted to a bikini she'd wanted to cover herself. But despite that, the body underneath was such that the covering really didn't matter much. She was lithe with a dancer's build, with high very perky breasts pressing out under the shirt. Her once again blue skin was set off remarkably well by the white of her shirt and black of her pants. Her lekku twitched occasionally as they rode on her chest, and her hazel eyes were bright.

Her light pink lips parted, her tongue working over one of her teeth, which Harry found remarkably distracting as he stared at her and the word **WOW**! went through his mind.

 _I've seen Aayla's face of course over the years, seen what little baby fat she had disappeared, but seeing even the face is very, very different when it sits atop that body!_

For her part Aayla was dealing with the same sort of feelings. She'd been around Jedi boys for most of her life and knew that Jedi training made both genders strong and well-built. But she'd never felt attraction before this moment, and she wondered if that was partly because of her and Harry having bonded when they were so young. Not that she cared, it was simply an academic question in the far reaches of her mind where logic dwelt. The rest of her mind was consumed by the sight in front of her.

Harry stood at around six foot now, taller than either of his parents had been in life. Lily had supposed this was a sign of his having had to live of the Force or as she had put it at the time 'magic' on Ryloth's surface, which had fixed all the malnutrition, and then gone further, bringing his body to the greatest physical shape it could be. Of course, staying in shape had all been down to Harry and the Jedi training. Harry's shoulders were somewhat broad for a 16-year-old, his waist almost as thin as Aayla's. His face was thin without being gaunt just like most Jedi, and was quite handsome in Aayla's opinion, dominated by those bright gleaming emerald eyes of Harry's just like Lily's. **Wow!** By the Force seeing Harry's face in person is really different then seeing it over Hypercom! I have missed those eyes of his for so long!

Neither would ever remember how they crossed the intervening space between one another. All they knew was that one instant they had been staring at one another, the next they had their arms physically around one another as their bond once again opened to its fullest extent. "I missed you!" They both said aloud and in their minds at the same moment, causing both of them to laugh.

But they didn't let go, leaning their foreheads against one another as they stared deeply into each other's eyes. "I am never letting you go again," Aayla said, once more aloud and along their bond.

"Hey, that's my line," Harry's said, pushing lightly against her forehead with his own, his mind and heart dazzled by her eyes and the emotions he felt surging through their link. "After all, I was the one that just had to ride to the rescue you know."

"It'll be my turn next time," Aayla shot back. "After all, of the two of us who was it who was always getting into trouble, remember you've been telling me about some of your misadventures over the years.

"How dare you use logic against me?" Harry said dramatically, and they both laughed again, but still their arms did not move from their places around one another's waists, and eventually they fell silent, still staring until a cough from Dooku drew their attention away.

He was standing watching this, one sardonic eyebrow raised. While he had been told of the bond between Harry and Aayla he had not been prepared for the reality, imagining it as something like a padawan-master bond only between equals. It wasn't it really wasn't. He could sense the bond between them, the mental bond, not just the physical attraction, which was startling in the extreme. The Force was so startlingly bright around the two of them it was incredible.

Nor was Dooku the only one looking on this meeting in shock. Nearby a human with a Chandrillan accent watched on with rounded eyes. "Damn, I didn't think Jedi went into the romantic stuff, but that… it may get damn fine vid."

"Perhaps in your next lifetime at you'll be able to create said vid," Dooku said almost absentmindedly before turning to stare at the man. "We have no desire to take you all prisoner after all, how in the universe would we transport you. So long as you have no desire to recapture the slaves we'll probably be freeing some of you here. And Jabba's former slaves might need help getting off planet…"

More than one of the goons looked at one another, and slowly began to nod.

Then Dooku went on. "Of course, we will also be taking your facial features, and your retinal scans, which we will then send on to the planet that those slaves will be sent to. If you don't arrive, we will have everything we need to place a bounty on you. Jedi might be above such things, but I imagine the slave's families would not be. Nor would lying to us at the moment get past our senses. But of course none of you would be so foolish as to go back on your words to a Jedi, this was merely food for thought." Dooku finished, sneering down his patrician nose at the prisoners.

With that he began to gesture them on, and mistress Fay came back in just as Lily finished looking for any more slaves hidden away, not having found any. Lily put her ethereal arms around the two children, laughing lightly as she bussed Aayla's cheek with one of her equally ethereal kisses that always made Aayla beam, especially as she remembered the times Lily had used those as rewards for children who had performed exceptionally well in classes.

She turned, one arm still around Harry's waist as his other his own hand drop from her shoulders to a position on her hip, a small thrill going to the both of them at that gentle touch. Despite that Aayla turned and she moved out of Harry's arms, holding out her hands to Fay. "Master Fay. Thank you so much for your rescue!"

"Look at you my dear," the immortal Jedi master said, smiling and exchanging a brief but heartfelt hug with the young woman. After so many years with Harry and with Lily who was not backwards in coming towards with such things Fay had become more much more touchy-feely than most Jedi. "You look magnificent. You have any idea however how you and your Master were spotted?"

"No, thought I think had something to do with it. Bib Fortuna, he was Jabba's second-in-command, he said I had been 'made'. I think it might have had something to do with Aurra Sing, the bounty Hunter. I spotted her the evening before I was gassed." Aayla said with a shrug.

Then she looked around, guilt suddenly rising within her as she remembered her master, having not thought of him since seeing Harry. Harry immediately felt her guilt and grabber her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze and she turned a wan smile on him.

"Can you sense your master presence Padawan Secure?" Dooku said, quickly coming over at the mention of the infamous bounty hunter. She had killed two Jedi so far, and Dooku was interested in **discussing** that with her.

"I think so…" Aayla said thoughtfully. "I should be able to, unless…" she exchanged a glance with Harry. _"Unless our bond this close and so powerful is drowning out my bond with Master Vos."_

Harry stayed silent unable to say yes or no to that one, and also unwilling to say it was a bad thing either. Aayla felt that response and rolled her eyes to the ceiling, though she did tend to agree. After a moment's concentration however she was able to sense Quinlan. "He's here, but injured I think, and unconscious. Upstairs somewhere I think."

"I have found him." Master Fay said after a few moment's silent contemplation. "A Jedi has a distinct, call it a flavor to his mind, even unconscious. He is up that way she said gesturing back to the corridor the attackers had come down initially. "I had not registered it when we were forcing our way down, but I can sense him easily enough now. Aayla, come with me. He might need someone he recognizes immediately nearby, and your presence will help him adjust quickly."

"We will remain here," Harry said, looking over at Dooku, then at the slaves. None of whom had much in the way of clothing, and all of whom had various signs of their confinement or enslavement on their bodies.

Dooku cocked an eyebrow then nodded, his lips twitching again. The youth learns quickly. "Yes, Padawan Potter and I will deal with organizing the slaves. Though I feel you Master Fay might need to deal with any surgically emplaced explosives. I am afraid I have no such skill."

"Jabba didn't use those, he used collars. He was a traditionalist like that," Aayla said, shaking her head. "I think the pervert just liked to see his property, wearing chains." She spat out, before calming down noticeably as Harry once again squeezed her hand before letting go. Even as they went their separate ways for the moment however, the two continued to talk via their mental bond. It wasn't as personal as it would be if one or the other had projected their astral bodies into the other's mind, but it would do for now.

A few moments later as Dooku and Harry were still integrating the slaves, conjuring up clothing for them, once more with Dooku acting as a front man when Fay and Aayla returned with Quinlan, who was leaning heavily on the older woman. He wasn't still wounded, Master Fay had helped heal his wounds quickly, but the disorientation in his mind would take longer to deal with. Quinlan had been given three times the amount of drugs Aayla had been given and the fact he had fought so hard against Aurra before succumbing to his wounds made his Force healing even slower. On top of the drugs to make him pliant however Jabba had added even more to make him respond to questioning, the various drugs merging into a horribly debilitating concoction.

Quinlan's eyes rolled up slightly in the back of his head even as he walked, but he focused on Harry for a moment, nodding his head to the younger man. "Thank you for your help here, not just for me, but for my padawan. If you had not, if your connection with her was not…" he trailed off, unwilling to say what would've happened to Aayla

In the face of this outpouring of un-Jedi like emotion Harry just nodded, smiling at Aayla. "We're connected he said simply, "always. And I was telling the truth, I'm not letting Aayla out of my sight again."

Aayla nodded fervently, the two of them staring at one another for a few moments before shaking their heads and moving away back to their various tasks quickly. Neither of them really understood how to explain their bond verbally without using analogies, though Aayla did so quietly to Master Fay and Quinlan a few moments later as the three of them moved toward the patrol ship with Quinlan still leaning on Fay's shoulder.

"It's like, it's not like we were missing pieces of the puzzle or something like that," Aayla said haltingly. "We're still separate people, we always have been. Our connection doesn't make us one person or anything like that, that would be weird, and rather wrong. It's like… like our two puzzle pictures had little corners that've been missing for a long time, but now they're connected overlapping. Or like we're two cups of water that were supposed to be merged and now are again. When we were apart, it was this sort of… dull ache that was always there, ignorable after a while but there and now it's gone, and we're a greater whole?" Aayla stuttered to a halt shaking her head.

"Something like that anyway." She finished lamely.

Master Fay chuckled, shaking her head. To her the mystery of their bond was just that: the mystery of their bond and she would not question it. She knew it was of the Light. It laid between them this bright vibrant glow to her senses, and staring at it, the power and nature of it Fay knew that she would never agree to separate the two again. The Force had plans for these two, she didn't know what that was plans were, but it was obvious whatever it was, they would face it better together.

Sifting through the shattered remnants of the ships docked in the hangar bay took a while, but eventually Dooku, Harry and the rescued slaves found several skiffs they could repair. This included the monstrosity that had been Jabba's personal yacht. Setting the goons who had survived to this point and the slaves who had any mechanical background to work they were able to repair them in a few hours, during which Quinlan recovered, and he joined Dooku and Aayla hunted through the palace, making certain that they'd found all the communication devices, computers and other things with Lily's help. After they found them, Quinlan gleefully copied anything they had on them, sucking them dry of all information on to various data cubes which Quinlan could then use to smash the illegal slave trade wide open.

They also found Pol Secura. He was still unconscious from one of Master Fay's mental assaults, along with his bodyguard, holed up in a small communication room complete with computer. Dooku stared hard at the bodyguard, frowning thoughtfully. "This one I will want to talk to later," he murmured. "He looks familiar to me, I'm uncertain if he's a bounty hunter or a bodyguard, but I have definitely met him before on assignment."

Aayla didn't respond to that, too busy staring down at her uncle as the realization that it must have been him who had spotted her and given the game away. Harry's soothing thoughts reached out again from where he was still working with the freed slaves and goons, joshing them along or helping as he may physically and with Force, his ability to repair things working overtime in very small lots, easily hidden or written off by the workers around him. _"Easy Aayla, remember this isn't the first time your family tried to betray you."_

" _He's not my family Harry!"_ Aayla said, throwing off her shock and feeling of betrayal quickly. _"I chose my family, and it's you, Lily, and the rest of the Order,"_ she said aloud, as well as mentally feeling Harry's approval and affection through their bond. Nearby Quinlan and Dooku both nodded, though Dooku wasn't quite as at home with such emotions even after a few months with Harry, Lily and Master Fay as Quinlan was.

"Are you done with the computers Quinlan?" Dooku asked, moving on quickly.

"I believe I am yes. We'll have to have some of the decryption teams back at the Order looked through them, a lot of this is encoded, but luckily there weren't any traps to prevent me from accessing it in the first place or copying it, so that will be simple enough. Will be breaking open that slave ring with this stuff easily, as well as hopefully mopping up all of Jabba's illicit activities out here in the outer rim.

"Excellent," Dooku said with a nod. "And that leaves me to deliver a message, capping this entire day."

Both of the other Jedi looked at him, and Dooku's lips twitched downward. Gardulla needs to be informed of what has gone on here and why."

Quinlan nodded. "That's true the Hutts will not like what happened here."

"Exactly. I mean to make certain any acrimony from that quarter comes towards me. If they wish to blame me and take action against me because of this day's work, they will find me a harder target than the young padawans."

He waved the two of them out of the corridor, watching as Aayla used the Force to lift her uncle up from where he was slumped unconscious by his body guard, his head smacking on the floor occasionally as she went. Rather vindictive, but Dooku could not send any Darkness around the girl, there was far too much Light there for that, so he let her to it.

Connecting the computers up to the comm gear, he sat back and waited for a moment. A second later, an Aqualish appeared, and he let a sneer cross his face as the creature looked at him in. "Put your Lady on, now."

A minute later the Hutt's expressionless face appeared, showing the carved out portion of her head clearly through the pickup. "I did not know that Jabba was replacing Fortuna with a human, what is your name and what does your Lord wish you to tell me?"

The Hutt of course spoke in Huttese, but Dooku had already thought of that, having set up another computer screen nearby to translate the words transmitted. This meant there could be no misunderstanding between them, nor any need for middle men.

"Bib Fortuna is dead, as is Jabba," Dooku said bluntly. "I am Master Dooku of the Jedi Order. Jabba had intended to take a Jedi padawan as a slave. We objected to this most strenuously. His operations are now defunct, most of his people here are dead, his slaves or freed, and his corpse is rotting beneath me somewhere.

He waited until he saw Gardulla's reptilian eyes widened further before going on. "I wished to inform you of this, so that you and the rest of your race will know why it occurred. The Jedi Order is not in a position to tell you how to run your own sector of space, and even out here we sometimes have to tread lightly. But that does not mean we are fearful to tread here at all. Do not bring our attention down on you again."

For a moment the female Hutt was silent, her reptilian eyes staring through the pickup it Dooku. "If Jabba was foolish enough to try and clean a Jedi padawan as a slave, however that occurred, I will not challenge you at present. But this is not over. He was important to his clan, and they will strike back at you for his demise."

"It **is** finished… Unless they wish to join him in death." Dooku said leaning forward and using the Force to make himself seem larger. The Hutts might be mentally immune to pop Jedi powers, but perception could still play a role even through a com link like this. "As I said I am Master Dooku. If they wish to strike at the Jedi Order, we will strike in them in turn. Let it end here, full stop, or they will find out that the Order while unwilling to, is not **unable** to strike back at them."

"I will tell the Desilijic your message," the Hutt female replied shrugging her shoulders. "After that, it is out of my hands." Then she disconnected, not commenting on Dooku's last comment, which he knew was the truth.

Sighing faintly Dooku stood up and moved to join the others.

The slaves were mostly able to fit into Jabba's yacht and the few other ships, and they road them out with the Jedi hovering over them protectively in the patrol ship towards Mos Eisley. There they commandeered a few ships Jabba owned through their captains, who were now dead. With the former goons knowing somewhat how to operate them, and more than a few of the slaves being able to help being former spacers engineers or other things of that nature they began to prepare the ships for takeoff.

Seven of the slaves however had been born into servitude, and bought legally for the given definition of such. They would travel with Quinlan on their beat up merchant ship eventually heading toward Sorenno. It would be **very** crowded, but as the trip to Sorenno only would take about a day in hyperspace, that was fine by Quinlan, who would like the company.

Once on Sorenno it would be up to Dooku to find them gainful employment somewhere on his family's property. "Though what the neighbors will say about it I don't know," he said sighing somewhat as he tried to make a joke to Master Fay later that day, causing her to chuckle.

She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder shaking her head. "Trouble might have come from this, but we just did something extremely good. How does it feel?"

"Good," Dooku said simply, shaking his head with a bemused twitch of the lips as he watched Aayla and Harry zone out again, lost in their bond even as their bodies continued to help the few slaves and other spacers repair the ships for takeoff. "Very good. Those two are something special aren't they? I hadn't realized how much so even after your description. Padawan Potter is something special on all of his own, but together they are like Padawan Secura said, in her rather stultifying manner, more than the whole."

"Yes. Yes they are. They will remain together you know regardless of what the Order tries." Master Fay said looking at Dooku.

"I doubt even Master Windu is so foolish as to try to separate them at this point, not with the bond between them almost visible like that. But if they do, I will speak up in their defense and I am certain Master Yoda will as well. Yoda's position is now far too secure given how well Harry's abilities have spread through the Order thanks to his patronage for him to suffer foolishness." Dooku replied. "A few years ago it might not have been, but the techniques have spread far and wide and saved too many lives now for the Council of First Knowledge to argue."

Dooku looked up suddenly as something needled his Force senses and he frowned thoughtfully. "That is interesting I have just felt of presence in the Force, one that I am quite familiar with. I wonder what my former padawan is doing here."

Master Fay made an interrogative sound, and Dooku responded with flicking a hand up to indicate space. "A ship I think just came out of hyperspace with my former padawan on board. I can feel it, if rather dimly from this distance he does not suffuse the Force as you do milady."

"Do you wish to check on him?"

Dooku frowned thinking for a moment then nodded. "I think I will yes. I cannot imagine what has brought him out this far, Qui-Gon very rarely goes out beyond the Mid Rim Territories with his padawan… O, something or other. Ori, no that's not right…"

"We'll be done here in a few hours Master Dooku," said Harry, looking up from their work on one of the engines of the spaceship. "Would you like us to go with you?"

Dooku tapped his finger against his side thoughtfully for a moment then nodded. "I think we should yes. We might need to leave at a moment's notice at this point. I have no idea how the Desijilic clan will respond to what occurred here, but we might wish to leave quickly. How long will it take to have the slave's ships ready to leave?"

"Another few hours I think," Quinlan said, looking over at two of the slaves, Sullustan brother who had been turned into slaves when they attempted to get in the way of a slave raid on a pleasure yacht in Cynbar with their own ship. They both nodded, going into a conversation of their own as they hurried off. "We'll make it happen, and I'll go with them in my Maze Jumper. It might not look like much, but it has a decent offensive punch just in case."

He looked at Aayla, then visibly changed what he was going to say, knowing she would not be coming with him. "I will see you all on Sorenno I hope."

Aayla moved forward, hugging Quinlan around the waist as Fay and Dooku both answered in the affirmative. "Master Unduli and Knight Vosa will help the slaves get back to their homes if possible. We will stay here helping for those two hours then, and then see if I can follow this Force sense to Qui-Gon."

 _If only the Force could be specific about the type of disaster that would bring! Danger from someone inside the Order, some kind of split within our ranks? The Senate realizing his power and fearing it, trying to control him somehow? I realize reading the future is always hard, but the rise of the Dark Side has made it next to impossible!_ Dooku thought irritably, turning away from the emotional moment between padawan Secura and her master as Harry moved over to help with the repairs once more.

 **OOOOOOO**

It was all Qui-Gon could do to concentrate on what the proprietor of the shop was saying to them, the rest of his mind trying to put together what his Force senses were telling him. **Something** had happened on this planet recently, something he could barely sense now, but some kind of Force phenomenon, a Light sided one for certain, but beyond that he could not tell anything about it, so quickly was its effect dissipating into the Unifying Force. But more prevalent to the moment, there was the feel of another presence here, a presence Qui-Gon felt he was extremely familiar with.

And it was coming closer, followed by several other presences, though his Force senses were not up to the task of telling him much about them, save possibly that two of them were padawans and the other was most definitely a Master of some kind. That one had a soothing presence in the Force the likes of which Qui-Gon had never felt before. It was as if this master radiated a sense of calm, the power of which could almost have been visible like a shroud around him or her. Beside her the padawan's Force sense felt veiled, hidden by Force Stealth.

But they are coming closer, they must have, or rather Master Dooku must have sensed me. Good, perhaps together we will be able to deal with this current issue without resorting to chicanery or other means of repairing the Queen's ship.

With that thought Qui-Gon returned his attention entirely to the physical plane and he nodded at the Toydarian, Watto. "I understand," he said sighing. "If Republic credits are no good out here, we will find some alternate means, or find some place who will take them."

"Good luck with that," said the small but fat flying alien, shaking his long snout. "You'll not find anyone else in this city or any other city on Tatooine that sells parts for Naboo ships. Too much bother, too much trouble. Only your luck that I have one that you can buy.

"We shall see," Qui-Gon said complacently, moving away.

He gestured Padme, and good grief, did the child really think a Jedi Master would not know she was the queen, with that attitude? It wasn't like she was that good an actor in the first place to follow him. As he stood back he reached out quickly to grab Jar Jar Binks by the tongue and pulled him along, ignoring the Gungan's jabbering. "I'll not have you break anything else in here that I'll have to pay for," he said as an aside, watching as Anakin joined them.

"What now Master Jedi?" Padme said, and Qui-Gon cocked his head to one side as he stared at the girl.

Worry and concern, not for her herself but her people radiated off her in waves, and once again Qui-Gon wondered why she shone so brightly in the Force. Padme Amidala wasn't a Force sensitive, but it was as if the Force had marked her for some reason. Though in comparison to his first impression of the youth now following them that dimmed to nothing.

"Now we wait for a friend to arrive," he said simply.

Padme blinked, frowning and looking at Anakin who shrugged his shoulders in ignorance. "You have a friend here?"

"My friend should not actually be here, and I would not call him a friend exactly…" Qui-Gon said, trying to think of a simple way to describe his relationship with his former Master, and failing. "Master Dooku will at the very least be able to help us in some fashion."

"Help you with your ship, or help you free and rescue me?" The boy asked, cocking his head and looking up at the towering Jedi. He seemed more certain that ever that the Jedi Master was here to free him and his mother from their slavery.

"We shall see," Qui-Gon said. "I'm unwilling to promise anything at this moment."

"So we're just going to stand here then," Padme asked, frowning. "That doesn't seem like a good…"

She cut off as the boy next to her gasped, literally jumping off the ground and almost hiding behind her in fear. "Ghost!"

Qui-Gon turned, staring down the pathway at yes a Force Ghost which had just come through a wall. She, it was a redhead with the most magnificent mane of hair he had ever seen, turned disappearing for a moment before moving over to the entrance to an alleyway. She hovered in the air as four individuals came through the alleyway behind her.

 _Well, at least young Anakin has proven that he is indeed Force Sensitive, it isn't just my own senses playing tricks on me._ Qui-Gon he thought philosophically his mind pushing aside his shock at seeing a Force Ghost with difficulty. _I have to wonder what in the Force is going on here however, not just my old master but a Force Ghost, two young padawans and… could that be Master Fay?_

This close he could feel the power of the two padawans below their Force Stealth. They were both powerful, and this close Qui-Gon knew he had met the young Twi'lek girl in passing on Coruscant. The boy however was a complete unknown, and he felt even more powerful. There was also some kind of Force bond between the two of them. That was all his sense could tell through their Force cloak however.

"Master Qui-Gon," Master Dooku said, bowing his head somewhat ironically at the younger man. "Who are your companions?" he said, casting a disdainful glance towards Jar-Jar, then an interrogative look over at Anakin and Padme.

"I could ask the same of you master," Qui-Gon retorted dryly.

"Wh, What about the ghost, can't you do something about it!?" Anakin interrupted, and the ghost in question looked at him before laughing and making a face at him. Anakin seemed to gather his courage at that and came out from behind Padme.

"Anakin, there's no such thing as ghosts." Padme said slowly, looking from the newcomers, the two youngest shorter individuals seeming not interested in the conversation, turning to one another, silent under their hoods. Given it was getting cold out now the sun had begun to go down, Padme could relate, but it still seemed somewhat rude.

Anakin stared up at the angel then over to the Ghost who laughed. "She can't see me child, only Force sensitives can. My name is Lily, but don't worry, I won't hurt you, whatever ghost stories you've heard around here."

For a moment her words didn't register, Anakin simply shocked at hearing a Ghost speak so normally. Then they did and his eyes widened and he looked over to the Jedi. "I knew it, you are here to rescue us! I **will** be a Jedi!"

Dooku looked from Lily down to the boy then over to Fay who had just introduced herself to Qui-Gon. She too was looking at the boy contemplatively. "I see there is more to talk about than just what brings us all here.

"Indeed, but this is not the perfect correct venue to speak of any such thing Master Dooku," said Qui-Gon looking around him. Noe one else had seemed to notice them, and it was only now that Qui-Gon felt why: someone had put some kind of aversion field with the Force, turning everyone away from them. _My old master has seemingly learned new tricks, impressive._

"You can come to my house," Anakin said with a shrug. "I was going to put Master Qui-Gon and Padme up anyway. So long as you can pay for your own food and everything."

"We can do that and more," Master Dooku said with a tiny smirk on his stern face, whose meaning Qui-Gon could not fathom. He looked at one of his companions, a tall woman in a cloak that barely covered her face, allowing luminous features to be seen. "Lead the way, Anakin was it?"

Anakin nodded and moved off to do that, with Padme falling in beside him, glancing at the two young-seeming padawans in their cloaks, interest in who they were and why they were so silent filling her. She noticed as they walked that once or twice Master Fay had to reach out and grab at one or another to keep them moving and she wondered if perhaps they were hurt in some way.

They soon reached the Skywalker house. Outside the door to the tiny house stood a middle-aged woman, who stared at Anakin shaking her head. "Annie, what've I told you about inviting people home?"

"We will not impose on you for long good lady," Master Dooku said grandly, bowing from the waist as he took her hand, kissing it gently. "I am Master Dooku, and I promise my companions and I will only impose on you for perhaps the night, perhaps less. We will also pay for the use of your house, never fear."

Anakin blinked as he watched his mother become somewhat flustered shaking her head and trying to demure. "It, its Shmi, and, Um it's no trouble. I just, we don't have enough food on hand for a meal for this many people."

"Don't worry Madam," said one of the padawans, speaking up for the first time. His voice was a pleasant sounding tenor, but firm and powerful. "I have enough food to make several meals for all of us and I'll even cook it too."

"You should let him," said the other padawan, laughing. Now that there was no one around even beyond whatever aversion field they had put up she pulled her hood back. Padme saw that she was an extremely pretty Twi'lek girl around her own age, with blue skin, hazel eyes, and a grin on her face as she looked at her companion. "Harry is one heck of a cook."

"I have years as a slave myself when I was younger, and Master Micah to thank for that." The so-named Harry said with a shrug, pushing back his own hood.

Padme immediately blushed. _My word those eyes!_ She had thought Obi-Wan was handsome, even Qui-Gon was somewhat handsome, though far too old for her to ever imagine in any capacity. Obi-Wan was in his 20s and seemed older as well, but closer in a way. This padawan looked only a few years at most older than Padme, and he was even more handsome than Obi-Wan. His face was also livelier than Obi-Wan's and the kindness and good humor shining from those emerald eyes made them quite enchanting.

She watched as Harry bowed in turn to the older woman, who looked a little flushed as he took her hand kissing her gently as Master Dooku had a courtly manner rather than a Jedi one. "Padawan Harry Potter," he said formally. "Thank you for the hospitality of your home."

Aayla laughed, reaching over and kissing the older woman's hand as well which caused Shmi to burst out into chuckles of her own and waved her hands visibly at the two youngsters. "Enough of that! If you two are Jedi like Master Dooku and Master Qui-Gon, I could do no less. Though I won't turn away your help with dinner Jedi Potter."

"Just Harry please," Harry said with a shrug. "Master Fay has never gone into formalities or titles. Respect yes, but not so much titles. There's a thin line there," he said laughing as he held up two fingers a millimeter apart before moving over to the small kitchen and for some reason pulling out a bag which no one there had noticed he was carrying.

As he moved to the kitchen Aayla drew their attention back to her as she looked at Master Qui-Gon. "So Master Qui-Gon, what brings you here?"

 **OOOOOOO**

Setting the _Scimitar_ down Darth Maul leaned back from the controls, already closing his eyes as he sent his thoughts out into the Force. Something had disturbed the Force of this planet, but it was gone now, it's ripples subsumed into the Unifying Force once more. But he could sense a Jedi here, not just one either, but several together, making finding them far easier than it would have been otherwise. Two of them were even making no effort to hide themselves, while a few others were.

One of those was somewhat disturbing to Maul. It was so tranquil, so pure the Sith longed to crush it utterly, but that was not his mission. His mission was to muddy the waters of the Naboo conflict, and kill Jedi. To do that he had to find them, monitor them and strike when it was appropriate.

About 45 minutes later, he was staring at the readings of his small scout bike, frowning angrily. As one of the leading duelists in the Jedi Order, he had made a study of Master Dooku and knew him by sight. The fact that he was here was a problem. He knew that Qui-Gon, who he also saw, had been apprenticed to Dooku, but that should not have been enough to get Dooku himself here. The other two were nothing, young padawans by their age, but that was all he could tell about them through his drones sensors. The other was an unknown, her features barely discernable through his observation drones pickup, but Maul could tell she was the one with the peaceful Force presence.

 _I realize my Force Cloak is excellent, but coming closer than this would be foolish in the extreme. I am good, but I would hesitate to take on Dooku one on one, let alone with all of the others around. No, I will pull back for now, wait until this group separates, then take on the weaker group. Just because it is time to reveal the Sith have returned is no reason to be stupid about it._

 **OOOOOOO**

Padme kept sneaking glances over to the two padawans from where she was listening in on the discussion of Master Dooku and Master Qui-Gon. Her attention simply couldn't stay on the discussion going on between the three masters and Shmi, she was simply too enthralled with whatever was going on between Harry and Aayla. The two of them had started to take part in the discussion a time or two, but after having dealt with Anakin's shock at Jabba's death and everything else that had happened there, a response which had bordered on hero worship, the two had slowly fallen silent.

They would occasionally stare at one another, and when they finished speaking they moved over to one of the walls where they sat down, with Aayla leaning her head against Harry's chest, staring up into his eyes hazel staring into emerald.

They didn't speak now simply staring into one another's eyes, but even so Padme's instincts told her they were communicating in some fashion she couldn't follow. Despite that lack Padme knew she was watching something truly personal and deeply romantic. The little girl in Padme was enjoying the experience, even if the older girl was rather embarrassed to be watching.

Back in the main discussion Master Dooku had just finished explaining that despite his riches, Jabba hadn't actually kept much liquid cash around. Most of his wealth was in slaves, weapons, and treasures of various types.

Dooku had enough local currency to buy the part needed for her ship **or** the two slaves, but he was also more of a mind to force the issue with Watto than Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon didn't want to leave any sore feeling behind, Dooku couldn't care less. Fay was more of Qui-Gon's mind, but also knew that thanks to their own mission they needed to leave Tatooine quickly. It was thus decided that Dooku would return with Qui-Gon to the shop early the next morning and purchase the engine, Shmi and Anakin, or bully the Toydarian into letting them go.

"We might have trouble with the Toydarian, he seemed rather attached to Anakin." Qui-Gon warned.

Anakin scoffed shaking his head. "Watto doesn't like to do his own dirty work, but if you have that much of the local currency, he'll be able to hire three or four people to replace me. He won't make much trouble."

Even so Anakin looked a little irritated, and Qui-Gon nodded his head that the boy. "You feel irritation, being freed not through your own hands but through money. It takes away from the impact, does it not?"

"Sort of," Anakin said, showing no surprise that the Jedi Master had been able to read him like that. "It's just, if I'm bought like that are I still sort of a slave?"

"No!" Qui-Gon said, shaking his head as Master Dooku leaned back, letting Qui-Gon handle this while Fay stood up looking over at Lily and moving toward the door to speak to her for a moment. "The Jedi do not keep slaves, and you will **not** be a slave any longer. You will be free, and we will even remove that device in your neck as quickly as possible."

Harry looked up from where he had been staring into Aayla's eyes, hugging her gently around the waist as they both turned to look at the table where the discussion was going on. "Master Fay can handle that. Her powers of healing and telekinesis are incredible."

"It feels surreal, sitting here and talking about our freedom like this as if it was a certainty," Shmi said, shaking her head, one hand rising to touch her neck where the bomb was emplaced. "Will we really be free?"

"Yes," Qui-Gon said with a nod.

Master Dooku nodded too. "I will be finding work for several dozen slaves already, honest paid work for on my estates, I can do the same with you madam. While your boy will be tested, and possibly inducted into the Order."

Qui-Gon almost jerked at the word 'possibly', but controlled himself as he looked at his Master. "You have doubts?"

"His age is somewhat against him," Dooku said delicately. "While not any longer a huge concern, it might be a factor coupled with his years as a slave."

Harry looked up from where he was leaning against the wall once again staring into Aayla's eyes until that phrase percolated through their own telepathic discussion. "It didn't matter with me."

"True," Dooku said, though he did not add aloud, _but you are rather special case, and you know it Harry._

"Still, I would like to look at your Midi-Chlorian Count if you don't mind," Qui-Gon said, holding out a small device towards Anakin's arm, which he willingly stuck out swiftly. The machine took a small skin sample, and Qui-Gon moved toward the door, radioing back to Obi-Wan to check his results, only to get pulled into a discussion with his padawan about what was going on and who he had met.

Soon after that Anakin pulled a willing Padme into his lab and Fay, Lily and Shmi moved to stare out into the night form one of the windows as they talked, with Fay relaying what the Force Ghost was saying. It was a very odd experience for Shmi, but she and Lily were quickly able to bond over their son's and being single mothers. For his part Dooku pulled out a datapad and began to write up a report for the High Council about today's events.

Harry and Aayla walked outside, moving to sit down leaning against the house's outer wall just out of hearing range of the ladies' conversation. They had their own conversation, which they were about to return to when Qui-Gon, who had also come outside, his eyes widening in pleasure at something on his communicator. "I knew it… the boy is a vergence…"

"What's a vergence?" Harry asked, as Aayla frowned, not able to place the term.

Qui-Gon turned to the young padawans, eager to share his discovery. "A vergence, a being created by the Force itself… Shmi said she had not laid with anyone at the time or for months before. The Force itself used her womb to create life, powerful life. He is the chosen one destined to restore balance to the Force."

Aayla barely held back a snicker at Qui-Gon's expense at the way he said 'laid with anyone'. He made it sound so clinical yet so dirty it amused her greatly.

Feeling some of the other thoughts that went through her mind at that Harry felt his face flush, but kept his attention on Qui-Gon. "That sounds like you are quoting some kind of prophecy Master Jinn. I have to say from my… discussions with Master Fay and others that such things are always open to interpretation." Harry always remembered the prophecy that had been supposedly about him that doomed his family, and disdained such things now. That got in his way when using the Force to perceive the future or events happening away from himself, but he wasn't able to change it.

"That is your interpretation padawan, and I know others who would share it. But we masters can feel it, the Dark Side is gaining power and despite the new techniques travelling through the Order the progression is getting ever stronger. Visions of the future have been clouded for years, and now we are almost totally blind to what the future holds for the galaxy at large. The Chosen One will restore that balance."

Harry frowned and made to speak again, but Qui-Gon had already turned away, heading back inside, his head held high and his eyes bright with purpose. "That was… odd." He said, looking down at Aayla who shook her head, her lekku twitching lightly against Harry's chest, sending a shiver down his spine.

"I've never heard of this Chosen One stuff, although if I did well I'd probably think you were the Chosen One Harry for many different reasons," Aayla replied with a smirk.

"Oh spare me that, please, not another kriffing prophecy!" Harry laughed, and Aayla joined him quickly. But the two soon subsided. Anakin was nice enough, and they could tell he was powerful in the Force, but they didn't really care about this whole Chosen One thing. Nor were the issues facing the group tomorrow worth their attention.

Within moments the two of them were once again lost in their own mental world. They had begun talking in Aayla's space-going rock fortress at first as they went over the memories of her training at the Temple, with Aayla pointing out the ones she felt were most important, though they had moved over to Harry's by this point. They walked through his crystal garden as Aayla described this last mission from start to finish, watching Harry's expression carefully.

It his mind the air around them would sometimes darken like a thundercloud was moving across the horizon to block out the sun. He didn't feel any anger towards any one individual, not really, but he felt righteous indignation right now. "I can't believe the Order would be so blind as to send you into a situation which might lead to, to what almost happened! I know that they couldn't have anticipated that kind of thing, but they should have at least realized that there was a possibility!"

"It could've been a lot worse and without you it would have been, Harry," Aayla said with a shrug. "If anyone else had been sent, they wouldn't have been able to use my ability to change my skin color like that, and wouldn't have been believed if they tried the whole skin disease thing to get out of being abused. They might have used their Force Stealth, then been spotted by Sing."

"I know but…" As Aayla squeezed his hand Harry shook his head. "I won't dwell on it, but I won't forget it either. The Jedi Order sometimes acts way too much like it believes what it thinks is right is actual reality without checking up on it later. And as an institution the Order doesn't show enough care to the individuals that constitute it. I can't believe that Master Yoda would've been part of that decision!"

"Master Yoda wasn't there. He was has knee deep… er…" Aayla paused, and smirked as Harry laughed aloud. "Okay, so maybe I should say he was well above his head and drowning in discussions with the Senate pushing to rescind the arming rights for the Trade Federation after the debacle of the trade summit on Eriadu."

"I hope this latest effrontery will be enough incentive for the Senate to demand the TF disarm." Harry said shaking his head as he gestured towards his newest memory crystal, which was a dusky tan in color shot through with veins of pink. It would signify his memories of Tatooine in its entirety for now, though he might separate his memories of Aayla from it into their own crystal later on. For a brief moment the two of them saw the memory of a few hours previous, where Padme explained her planet's plight to them.

Behind the two Inside the Skywalker house everyone had gone to sleep already and both of their bodies had closed their eyes feigning sleep but Master Fay was not fooled. "Don't stay up too late you two," she said, coming out of the Skywalker house to look down at the two of them where they lay against the wall, covered now by a single cloak, her voice bringing them back to the physical plane. "Catching up is all well and good, but you'll have time to do that while we decide where to go from here."

Harry looked up abruptly. "Master, I thought we would just go back to Sorenno! I know my training with Master Dooku is nowhere near done."

"The study of a lightsaber is the study of a lifetime," Aayla quoted, nodding her head.

Behind Fay Dooku actually let loose a chuckle. That had been a phrase that he had recorded among his teachings which he had left behind in the Temple after deciding to retire to Sorenno with his apprentice. "True enough Padawan Secura. But the Jedi high Council will no doubt want you and your Master to return to them. Vos also has reams of data he needs to give them which will aid in their ongoing efforts against the illegal slave trade. Not to mention a few prisoners who may help the Order with its inquiries."

Both teens flinched, and Dooku held up a hand. He was still somewhat disquieted by the connection between these two, but he couldn't deny that it was most definitely a Light Side construction. "We will not separate you two, but explaining the why of it will be difficult without letting the Masters see your connection themselves."

Harry looked at Master Fay and then over at his mother hovering behind the woman, having just come out from having teased Anakin about something, which had left Padme giggling madly and Anakin looking like a gaping fish. "Does that mean we will have to go back to the temple?"

"Perhaps," Dooku said frowning. He too looked at Master Fay.

That worthy frowned, shaking her head. "I will meditate on that tonight. If the Force is still telling me that taking you to Coruscant will result in disaster, we won't, no matter what pressures the Jedi Council puts on us. My own reading of the Force will suffice for them, but what that will mean for you both, that we shall see."

Harry nodded, and watched the adults move back inside. When they were gone he turned to look at Aayla, whose hazel eyes locked with his, worry and concern for the future overriding their joy in the present for a few moments.

But it couldn't last. They were young, they hadn't seen each other for years, and though they hadn't quite said the words just yet, they were deeply, one could almost say madly, in love. So they retreated once again into Harry's mental plane, talking, laughing, sharing what had been going on in each other's lives since they had separated all those years ago in far greater detail and openness then they ever could have via Hypercom.

Eventually their discussion petered out not finished, but irrelevant to the fact they were again together, and they simply walked among Harry's crystal gardens, holding hands. But then Aayla stopped, staring at one of the pink columns, looking around and noticing there were a few of them, though not as many as she had feared there would be after so many years separated. Harry caught her glance, and flushed slightly. But he didn't stop her as she reached forward, touching one of them.

This one was of a calisthenics class aboard the Explorer, with Shaak Ti pushing the younglings through their paces, moving through them and around them, doing at least twice as much work as the students and yet not sweating at all. Aayla remember this from her own perspective. She had overheard Zule mutter about boys at one point when a few of the other older student's had apparently been staring at the teacher a little too long.

But this memory wasn't about Shaak Ti. It was about Aayla, and Aayla beamed at Harry as she felt the attraction in the memory from Harry toward her. That made her feel very warm inside. That with Shaak Ti right there, who Aayla knew was extremely attractive, Harry still concentrated on **her**.

Suddenly, Aayla grinned wildly, and pulled both of them back out of the mental plane, standing up quickly before pausing somewhat shyly before speaking in low tones. "I, I just thought of something, a way I could, sort of, pay you back for saving me."

She held up a hand as Harry makes speak. "I know I don't have to Harry, but I want to, and it would be nice to do this for someone I, I care for. Would, would you like to see me dance?"

Harry's eyes widened, and his first inclination was to nod his head so wildly he might break his neck. But his self-control was such that he was able to step back for a moment and think. "Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly. "I mean I would've thought that dancing like that, well dancing would have a lot of bad memories tied up with it."

"It does, but that makes it even more important that I make new ones happier ones to associate with dancing." Aayla said hesitantly staring down at her feet then down at him through her eyelashes shyly. "Do you want to see me dance, Harry?"

"Aayla…" Harry said gulping then nodded staring up into Aayla's eyes.

Aayla smiled, standing back a few steps, taking the time to make certain with the Force that no one else was watching. There wasn't, and she began to dance. Her feet thumped down on the desert sand, once, twice, thrice, sending up tiny plumes of sand as she pirouetted in place, her arms thrown out to either side, her lekku dangling in front of her for a moment as she bowed from the waist. The tiny sparkles of sand rose up, shimmering and sparkling in the air. Aayla then raised one leg straight up, hugging it to her upper body for a moment as she continued her pirouette, slowly lowering it to replace her pivot leg. Then she began to move, her feet shifting this way and that as she danced, her lekku twisting this way and that around her head as she moved it merely serving to add to the display.

It wasn't the pole dancing she'd had to do several times in Jabba's palace. She didn't have a pole and Aayla's clothing underneath her now discarded cloak remained the same she had conjured during her escape. But that didn't matter. The way she moved the way she rolled her stomach somehow in a way Harry couldn't quite understand or explain, the moves Aayla performed, and her body, still made it intensely sensual. It took his breath away, caused his blood to boil and his heart to thump as if he was sprinting.

Yet it also looked somewhat lonely and struck by a sudden decision Harry got up quickly. "A, Aayla, I'd like to dance with you instead of just watch."

Now it was Aayla's turn to blink, her dance pausing as one hand moved to curl up with the tip of her lekku, confusion written plane on her face. "I've never danced with another person."

"My mom taught me some old-time dances from back on Earth. I could show you?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Struck by a sudden shyness Aayla looked down at her feet for a moment as she nodded. But she willingly moved her arms out to either side as Harry moved forward. He held her to him with one arm around her waist, and Aayla did the same to him, flushing as Harry's other hand clasped hers, their fingers weaving.

"Er, now I'm not certain if this one is a real dance or she was having me on, but she called it the tango and it goes like this…" With that Harry began to lead Aayla forward in the direction of their pressed hands, before twisting back the way they had come their arms shifting around one another as they continued to dance without music.

The tiny modes of sand in the air danced with them, flashing and twinkling in the air, as the two of them moved. Slowly the dance changed, moving from the tango to simply holding one another and twirling in place, staring into one another's eyes. It seemed the most natural thing in the world for Harry to lean down, and for Aayla to lean up, and before they knew it they were kissing.

And what a kiss it was. Explosions went off in their minds if not in reality, and Harry's grip around Aayla's waist tightened as did her own around his shoulders, pulling his neck down further. They deepened the kiss, their mouths opening, as they both try to somehow pour their emotions into the other person through their lips.

Eventually they pulled away, breathing deeply. Their dance had long since stopped, and they stood there in the desert moonlight staring into their eyes.

It had to be said, it had to be said aloud, not just in their heads. There was some kind of import to saying the words aloud. Harry didn't quite understand why that could be, but he understood it was. So he said them. "I love you Aayla Secura."

"I love you too Harry Potter, I love you too." Then they were kissing again, and the world once again faded around them.

* * *

 **End chapter**

I loathe Aurra Sing, slavery, and Jabba the Hutt in that order. Aurra Sing lived by ambushing and always having a trick to fall back on, but frankly she should have been executed several times. The only reason she wasn't was because the comic book writers were f-ing lazy and didn't want to come up with another villain to take her place as the wily and cunning Bounty Hunter. Here she ran into someone who, despite a bad start, had more tricks up his sleeve, and she paid for it.

As for slavery, it is a sign that the SW universe is inherently broken: that an Order like the Jedi or even the Je'daii could exist alongside legal slavery (this is not hyperbole, it is literally the only export Ryloth has that interests the rest of the universe at this time, and indentured servitude is a legal thing there, as it is in many countries in our own world) for literal millennia and not do their utmost to stamp it out or make it unnecessary is simply wrong, a sign of moral compromise that is unconscionable to me.

I realize I had mentioned the idea of having a chapter or so before the start of Phantom Menace, but I decided that I couldn't keep Aayla and Harry away for that much longer, not if I wanted to save her from being mind-wiped and turned into a near-drug addict. And yes, she really was sent undercover like that… The Jedi Order at this point in time was so much of a marble tower institution it isn't even funny. I have plans to correct that however in this fic as I did in _Horse For the Force_ , oh yes…

This chapter was quite a bit longer than I had hoped it would be, but there was a lot to cover, and I didn't want to have it end in a cliffhanger or with just the fight against Jabba's troops, which seems to be my default organization - ending a chapter with a big battle after a long buildup. I hope to go back to smaller chapters in the future of 25-35,000 words each, but can't promise I will be able to keep them below 40,000. My SW muse is so strong that once I start writing I just don't stop.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it and remember to review!

Be sure to check out the April poll when I put it up later today! Since it's for both the SW crossover for next month and the second story you want to see updated, you can vote twice!


	5. Chapter 5

The character's ain't mine, the plot at this point could almost be.

Okay, so while I had planned this week to only put out one of my SW crosses, I didn't realize the voting would be so split. By this I mean that the people here on fanfic voted by a wide margin for _Magic of the Force_. On the other hand, _Horse of the Force_ won by a landslide over on my vimesenthusiast PRN page. Weird, but I can roll with it, and when I put in my own votes (I **really** wanted to write up the meeting with the High Council), I decided to see if I could put chapters of both out. It was surprisingly easy given how I am now dealing with two different groups of characters in the same universe. There isn't enough character overlap to bother me, though I do have to be careful with how I treat Windu, Yoda and their other High Council brethren and sistren. Horse of the Force should be out this evening.

This chapter has been betaed by Kathyrn518 in terms of flow, SW info and plot points, and Ultimaflare0 for small mistakes and other errors.

 **Bold** \- emphasis

 _Italics_ \- thoughts

Underline \- written words

 _Italics, underline -_ specific ship names.

* * *

 **Chapter 5 Old Dogs, New Tricks**

While the Jedi slept, Darth Maul was busy, taking the lay of the land here on Tatooine, trying to calm some of his worries about there being so many Jedi here. While the one whose presence he discerned to be Master Fay was not a physical threat, Dooku certainly was, and together they could almost have been chosen to find Maul and bring him to battle.

The Rule of Two and the professional paranoia it had imparted to the Sith had kept them alive since the New Sith Wars. And Maul was, despite being a blunt object in many ways, still a student of that school. _Could their presence mean that someone somehow had been able to get an accurate Force vision and predict my presence?_

Thankfully, within a few hours of looking through the minds of the planet's inhabitants here and there in different towns, Maul realized this was not the case. Instead, it was pure chance that had brought this many Jedi here at this time. The injuries to the Nabooan yacht his target had taken had forced them to land here while other Jedi were here to deal with an entirely separate mission. According to his sources a Jedi had been captured while trying to spy on Jabba the Hutt and these other Jedi had arrived to rescue them.

That at least was all that was known to the few of Gardulla's enforcers he found. The news of Jabba's death had yet to reach the general populace, but Gardulla was already looking to consolidate what remained of Jabba's local holdings into her own.

On the whole, Jabba's death was not an issue. He could have become a threaten in time if he had succeeded in expanding into Black Sun's operations throughout the Republic, but even then he wouldn't have been a threat to Maul or his master.

More worrisome was the fact that there were no useful pawns on hand that Maul could turn to the Jedi. There were certainly ruffians and cutthroats aplenty, but none of them were worth anything. He would've had to promise to pay them in any event or directly manipulate all of their minds, an ability he was not very good at, to get them to help. The only local help he could look for might be from Gardulla, but Maul had read his master's profile on her. That one wasn't going to stick her head out after what happened to Jabba, and approaching her openly as he would have to, given the Hutt's immunity to mind tricks, was a risk Maul was unwilling to run.

Maul growled low under his breath as he returned to his ship, his fingers twitching in impotent fury. No, there were too many Jedi here. Take Dooku out of the equation and Maul might have been willing to attack anyway, but with the Makashi dueling master here there was no way Maul could attack the Jedi without being overwhelmed.

He stared off into the distance towards the ship his quarry had used to arrive on planet, which was situated on the far side of Mos Espa. _Would an attack on their ship work? I could kill at least the padawan that was left there that way…_

No, Maul decided after a moment. Attacking him would serve no purpose, especially given the Jedi's ability to communicate feelings and impressions from padawan to master. It would still warn the Order there was a Dark Side user involved in the Naboo issue at the very least.

Laying in ambush on Naboo however, that he might be able to do if his master allowed it. _Certainly these Jedi won't stay together for the rest of this mission, I will have another opportunity. Mere luck has saved you this time, but I will have you eventually._

Moments later the daggerlike black-hulled vessel lifted off the ground, heading towards space, leaving no hint of its presence or that of its master behind.

 **OOOOOOO**

Aayla and Harry had fallen asleep outside, cocooned in both their cloaks and the same type of heating technique Harry had made such profligate use of years ago when he first arrived on Ryloth, leaning back against the outer wall of the Skywalker's place. They were still asleep as Lily poked her head through the wall directly over them, looking down with a fond smile on her face. _They're so cute, I wish I had a camera._

Behind her Master Fay finished waking up, a quick process for any Jedi. Jedi never seemed to go through the whole 'where I am I, what time is it can I go back to bed for a few minutes' that most people seemed to have to deal with. Instead they came to full wakefulness almost immediately and Lily often wondered if this was because of their being connected to the Force as a whole, or because of their mental discipline. She supposed it didn't matter, and with an ethereal shrug Lily set that topic aside. "Harry and Aayla are both outside, I don't suppose you have a camera on you Fay?"

"I'm afraid not Lily," Fay said, smiling up at her friend, then looking around as Master Dooku came out of the small corner he had ensconced himself in the evening before. Master Qui-Gon too roused himself swiftly, coming out of the tiny kitchen where he had slept the evening before. "Why, do they paint a particularly cute picture?"

"Oh yes, however I am still going to give them the Talk later on." Lily caroled a surprisingly evil grin on her face.

"Why in the world would you want to do that?" Fay asked her eyes slightly wide now. "We've given Harry some of the Talk already, and Aayla will surely know about the biological side of things in excruciating detail. Explaining it and the birthing process as clinically as possible is part of how the Order indoctrinates younglings into ignoring the pleasures of the flesh."

Both Dooku and Qui-Gon frowned at the use of the word 'indoctrinate'. It had bad connotations, and they didn't like hearing it used for the Jedi training. Still, neither could actually argue with the fact that scaring them straight was a part of the normal way the Council of First Knowledge tried to 'help' the Jedi trainees going through puberty.

"I know, but that's the clinical side of things, not the emotional, not the do's and don'ts of dating." Lily replied, still smiling, though it had changed from an evil expression into a tender one for a moment. . "What they have is precious, and I don't know enough about their bond to say they could screw it up somehow. So it's best to make certain they know they shouldn't try to rush things or other more common ways of screwing up a relationship." Then the teasing glint was back in her eyes. "Besides, it'll be fun."

"Torture by any other name Madame Lily is not allowed by the Jedi Order which means I should stop you, on the other hand you are not a part of the Order lady, so I would merely ask you to keep the bloodletting to a minimum, " Qui-Gon said with a rueful chuckle, causing his former master to snort in amusement. A second later the Force Ghost he had been introduced to as Lily Potter left, allowing him and Dooku to turn to their plans for the day.

Inside Qui-Gon was wondering how this would go. Knowing now that Anakin was the Chosen One, Qui-Gon wondered if he had perhaps been a little too quick to agree that they would purchase Shmi from Watto as well. After all, it would not do for the Chosen One to still retain any kind of exterior attachment that could get in the way of his destiny.

 _But Dooku and the others would probably not agree with leaving her behind if we have the means to purchase her, and the very idea of leaving a slave in chains when we don't have to leaves a bad taste in my mouth as well. We will simply have to try to distance them physically. That should be simple enough._

He looked up as he saw Padme coming out of the small electronic workshop where she had been bedded down with Fay earlier. Fay of course had woken up far quicker than Padme, and now the young girl was walking forward, with her hands outstretched and her eyes squinted as if she was trying to see something in the distance. "What are you doing Padme?"

"Since I heard you talking to her I assumed Lady Lily was still around. Wouldn't it be rude for me to walk through her?" The currently in disguise queen of Naboo was still somewhat bemused by the idea of ghosts being real, but with the others talking to Lily most of last night, she had no choice but to accept their existence.

Lily laughed. "Don't worry about that child," she said reaching down to pat Padme on the head. As she had known it would, her hand passed right through, and Padme made no sign of having felt anything.

Fay chuckled as well, shaking her head at her friend's antics. "Don't worry Padme," she relayed to Padme. "You would not be the first person to walk through Lily like that, she is quite used to it."

"If you're sure?" Padme said, then looked around as Anakin, who had his own closet-sized room smiled at her, then looked around for the other Jedi as Lily turned away and made her way through the outer wall once more.

"I see you're still clothed at least."

Outside his mother's voice woke Harry up with a start, and Harry jumped, nearly dislodging Aayla from where she was sleeping against his chest to stare up at Lily, seeing one eyebrow arced in sardonic amusement. "What, I mean, of course we are Mum!"

"Don't 'of course we are mum' me young man," Lily said, trying to keep a frown on her face and failing somewhat as she looked at the two young people. "I know what hormones are like at that age dear. I lived in a boarding house for seven years after all. In fact, I had my own boyfriend when I was around 15, his name was Dexter Tomasion, and he was very nice Muggleborn Ravenclaw from Italy. But I would say I wasn't nearly as adventurous as your father was at that age…"

"Oh by the Force no…" Harry moaned, realizing where this was going.

"I realize that your hormones are going to be telling you both to hurry your relationship along as fast as possible," she said, smirking down at them both as Aayla too realized what was going on, her blue skin paling considerably. "But as we don't want any issues coming around nine months from now or indeed for oh, fifteen more years or so, I feel I should talk about the do's and don'ts of dating with you both."

Harry and Aayla quickly scrambled away from one another, entering the room that constituted the majority of the Skywalker house, with Lily following them. But if they had hoped to find a reprieve from her teasing, they were sadly disappointed. "A general rule of thumb is that going slow is never a bad thing, nor is setting rules from the outset. Things like your clothing needs to stay entirely on for at least the first four months or so, what you can and are not comfortable with in public, that sort of thing."

To one side Dooku was resolutely ignoring everything around him in favor of sipping from a bottle of caff that he had brought along purposefully for the mornings. He could wake up as fast as any Jedi of course, but that didn't mean he liked it these days.

Next to Dooku at the small table Shmi looked across at Qui-Gon questioningly as the two young people continued to cringe and look dyspeptic at whatever the Force Ghost was saying to them. She still couldn't see the Force Ghost of course, but given the conversation they had last night with Master Fay relaying her words, she no longer had any doubts of Lily's existence. "I confess I do not know much about the Jedi Order, but I thought you weren't allowed to have children or any kind of attachments to anything but the Order, like monks who have taken vows of celibacy."

There was in fact an order of monks on Tatooine called the Order of the Vast Way. They had a small hold in the mountains, far away from everyone. They seemed to get on well enough with the Tusken Raiders, but kept to themselves for the most part.

"The Jedi Order does indeed follow the way of abstaining from physical pleasures," said Qui-Gon, looking somewhat wistful as he too stared at the two youngsters. "However, as I understand it Harry was born to a small dying sect of Force users hence why his mother was able to have him in the first place. As for Young padawan Secura and padawan Potter's connection, I am afraid I do not know how that came about or why Master Fay does not seem to be discouraging it."

This was the story Lily and Fay had come up with over the years to explain the two Earthers. . And neither Harry nor Aayla had used any of their special powers in front of Qui-Gon beyond the space expanded bag Harry always kept on him with food in it for when they were away from Fay's ship. Harry had come to trust Master Dooku somewhat, but Qui-Gon was an almost entire unknown at this point.

Knowing that last was actually a question directed at her Fay replied, her voice serene sipping from a cup of local tea which Shmi had prepared for the two of them upon waking up. "I would sooner try to discourage a hurricane and would have more luck in doing so. You can feel it can you not? Their bond is made of the Light Side of the Force!"

"I can, if barely, my ability to sense such things is not up to yours Master Fay." Qui-Gon replied dubiously. Fay's ability to sense such things was among the best in the Order, something that was part of the woman's legend within the Temple's halls. "But that does not change the facts that such attachments are forbidden within the Order. Not just physical but emotional attachments can lead to the Dark Side, no matter how much true 'love' or affection exists between them."

"Pity," Shmi said, with a smirk at Qui-Gon, unwilling to allow the Jedi to start talking about such serious things right now. "Jedi stamina is the stuff of legends and I'd have liked to see if that carried over into other… endeavors."

As Qui-Gon actually blinked in shock at that Shmi went on wistfully. "Although I will say Aayla is a lucky girl, Harry reminds me of this lover I had once, the same shade of hair at least and the same roguish smile. But those eyes of his, they're enough to make a girl swoon all on their own…" All this was said with a sly smirk on her face and a sideways glance to her son, who was now looking pained.

Seeing this and realizing it could be a way out of his own predicament Harry quickly said, "Come on Anakin, let's get breakfast ready, its most important meal of the day right?!." So saying he quickly sped past the younger boy into the small kitchen, though the giggles of Shmi and Lily both followed the young Force users.

Anakin quickly scrambled after him, thankful that Lily had let Harry go for now. "Er, thanks for that."

"No problem Ani," Harry said before closing his eyes, quickly centering himself. "Mothers are pure innocent beings who give birth through immaculate conception," he said aloud, not realizing the irony in that statement though in the main room Qui-Gon was close enough to overhear this and had to bite down on a guffaw.

"That works," Anakin said with a jerky nod. "Yes I think I can keep a hold of that image now." Then he leaned forward, whispering. "I can't understand how you deal with a mother that follows you around like that, it would drive me mad!"

Harry laughed, ruffling his hair, trying to push down a spurt of jealousy. Shmi could hug her son after all for more than a few seconds, could hold his hand, could physically protect him at least somewhat even though they were both slaves. And Anakin had known her all his life, he didn't have eleven years of solitude and sadness, with only a single memory of his mother screaming at someone to take her instead of him to hold onto.

A sharp mental prod from Aayla brought Harry back to the here and now and he pushed his jealousy away quickly. He sent a feeling of grateful thanks back to Aayla, who nodded back. After all, she had never known a father or mother, and they had each other and Lily now, so wasn't that the important thing?

"I'm a mama's boy," Harry said aloud, "and the good of her being around far outweighs the bad. In fact up to a few moments ago I'd have been hard pressed to think of anything bad about having my Mum around," he said, mock glaring over at Lily who had finally followed the boys into the kitchen. In reply she merely smirked, leaning down to bus his cheek with her ethereal lips.

"Since you have all gotten this morning's comedy routine out of your system, I think it is indeed time for us to plan out our day," Dooku said drolly. He looked at Aayla then through the open doorway into the small kitchen at Harry. The two of them no longer seemed to be fighting the urge to look at one another, and seemed far more centered than they had been the day before. Best to make certain however. "I trust the two of you are over your reaction to once more meeting one another?"

"Yes Master Dooku," Harry and Aayla said as one, before looking at one another and sharing a laugh.

"It was just, we spent so many years apart and could talk so rarely, we had a lot to catch up on up here," Aayla went on tapping her forehead. "We're over it now." What she didn't say was that there was now a small constantly open back door between their minds, connecting their mindscapes through their bond. That was no one's business but their own, for now. Though Aayla knew they might well face opposition from the Order as a whole because of it.

Aayla sat down at the tiny table as Harry and Anakin came out of the small kitchen with the food Harry had prepared. Most of it had come from his expanded bag, a project Lily and Fay had completed while taking a break from working on Fay's ship. Anakin had seen Harry use the bag last night, but it was still wondrous to him.

Not so much the fact that Harry could do it, Harry was after all a Jedi padawan, and Jedi could do anything in Anakin's mind. No, it was the variety and the fact that there was actual meat in the food, making it a hearty meal rather than a soup or something else accompanied by cheap bread.

Padme flushed slightly as Harry sat across from her, sending a grin her way before nudging Aayla with his elbow and holding out a plate of something that looked like small cherries but not quite. They were a pink color rather than red, and seemed to have a hard rind to them as well. Aayla beamed in turn, smacking her shoulder against Harry's for a second as she took two of them, peeling the rind off the small items expertly before popping them into her mouth. "Kelu berries, they're really good," she said, holding out the plate to Padme.

Nodding in thanks Padme reached out as the others all grabbed their own meal. At one side of the small table Dooku had immediately begun to question Fay about their plans for the day, and Fay had promised to meditate once more on the near future while he and Qui-Gon dealt with Watto. Qui-Gon in turn was speaking to Anakin. He was so intent on questioning the youth he didn't even seem to notice the food in front of them.

With the skill of a trained diplomat to listen to multiple conversations at once, Padme heard Fay say "And I trust that you will be able to try to do so peacefully?"

"We will certainly endeavor to do so, but Tatooine is technically within the environs of the Republic. If we have to we can simply point out that slavery is illegal, and as a known slaver Watto's rights to retain his 'property' go out the airlock. I am not in the mood or see any need for us to tread lightly on this planet any further." Dooku replied grimly.

While that sounded good to Padme, she had a hard time concentrating on that, or even on the plate in front of her. Those eyes of Harry's and his handsome face was still enchanting to her. _I am not used to feeling jealousy towards another woman, but I have to admit that I am somewhat jealous about Aayla and her connection to Harry. It seems the sort of thing out of a fairytale._

Thankfully Anakin broke Padme out of her momentary stupor as Qui-Gon's attention was taken by his former master. The young boy began to talk excitedly about what kind of planets he'd like to see when he became a Jedi, finishing with, "But anyway, what I wanted to ask is what kind of planet Naboo is Padme?"

Padme smiled wanly and answered as best she could while the meal went on and Dooku and Qui-Gon left on their mission. "I would say it is an idyllic world in many ways. We have a magnificent climate, which allows us to grow enough food to feed our own population, with large oceans, vast plains suitable for farming, and a few scattered mountains. Naboo is all green, blue and water from above, a pristine world which has never felt the touch of overcrowding, over industry or any other excess which might have harmed its environment. We are an ancient people, with an ancient and storied history, mostly one of peace, showcased in our architecture, our cities are a wonder of history. Naboo is not a powerful planet, but we are self-sufficient.

"Of course," she said after finishing describing Naboo, "For all our beauty, we are still now under the heel of a conqueror at present. And I still don't understand why the Trade Federation has done this! Her majesty's government might have been looking into other means of transporting our goods elsewhere into the rest of the Republic, but their monopoly on trade doesn't mean they can simply and invade any planet that looks for alternate solutions to purchasing space with them!"

"Don't worry," Harry said reaching over the table to pat Padme's hand. "The Senate will have to act once you arrived on the city in person won't they?"

Padme nodded resolutely, flushing ever so slightly at the contact. "That is what my queen expects, and why we are in such a rush to get to Coruscant."

Nearby Fay rolled her eyes which Lily caught and she leaned down. "What?"

"Young Padme is hiding a bit of a royal secret so to speak," Fay said out of the corner of her mouth.

Lily's eyebrows rose in surprise and Fay shrugged. "She is in fact the Queen of Naboo under a very thin disguise at present. I don't know who Padme think she's fooling. Any Jedi could read her body language, tone of voice and presence as being that of someone of importance."

Lily frowned. "I haven't gotten that actually, although now that you mention it, she does seem a little bit… imperious I suppose, at times. But wait, she's only what 14, 15? And she's the queen of an entire planet!?"

Looking at Padme from the corner of her eyes Fay shook her head, still whispering so the young woman could not hear her. "I doubt she has much real power, a girl like her is most likely a pretty figurehead in many ways although if Padme will remain so for her tenure as Queen is anyone's guess. I've not dealt with Naboo myself. The inhabitants tend to be peaceful and solve any conflict between them through discourse, even Jar Jar's people so the Force never called me there."

Lily shot Fay another look, and the other woman laughed, reaching up to pat Lily on the lower leg, her hand seemingly patting nothing in the air to those without Force senses for a moment, sinking into Lily's ethereal form after a few seconds. "Don't worry he is not representational of his race."

Nearby Jar Jar looked up from where he had been slurping at a meaty kind of soup Harry called sucal, which he had run into on an ice world. "Mesa think I be insulted but mesa no know why…"

"Good." Then Lily's eyes hardened noticeably, and she leaned down until the two women were Face-to-Face. "Now, what are we going to do about keeping Aayla and Harry together?"

"I will meditate once more on that matter," Fay replied with a calm she did not altogether feel. "Then we will talk in depth about that topic, unless you have an idea now?"

"Not on that point, but I did have an idea about how to stop the High Council from being so cavalier with their people's lives in the future..."

 **OOOOOOO**

"Hmph, I see you were able to find someone with more local credits, I would never have believed it." Watto said hovering in the air has he watched Dooku place the credits for the part for the Nabooan style engine on his table. "Still, I'll not argue. Your money is now good, and the part is ready for you to take it, I've even loaned you a lifter free of charge." The Toydarian hacked a laugh, shaking his long-snouted head.

"Not quite," Qui-Gon said quickly. "We also wish to purchase your slaves."

"They are not for sale," Watto replied sharply.

"Of course they are, all that means is we have to haggle." Qui-Gon nodded to his former master, who slowly pulled out credit upon credit and placing them on the table. Unlike republic credits, which mostly looked like coins whose actual value was dubious, the credits used out here, Hutt credits, looked like long sticks of precious metals.

Most of the money had come from Jabba's palace. Dooku had felt no compunction in stripping the palace of all of its monetary wealth, most of which he had transferred electronically already off planet and to his estate's account so he could use it to pay for the reallocation of the slaves. He thought that a rather delicious example of both justice and irony. The local currency he had taken so they could purchase parts and anything else necessary for the number of ships they had commandeered for the salve, which had proven unnecessary. This had left a lot of jewels, art and sculpture behind for Gardulla, which would have to do to assuage her.

Watto's eyes bulged as he saw the amount of money, and he wavered for a moment. "Fine, you can take the woman. Shmi is only useful as window dressing anyway, and even that not much given her age. But Anakin is not for sale! The boy is too good with machines for me to do without!"

"We are offering you enough money to actually pay someone, or rather three or four someone's to do his job," Dooku said mildly, pausing in his work for a moment to stare coolly at the Toydarian. "We have interest in the boy, and we **will** have both of them."

"They're my property and I say the boy is not for sale!" the Toydarian said querulously, unwilling to part with his prized slave especially since the boy not only was a fine machinist, but also a very good pod-racer.

He had yet to win a race, but he had placed second several times, which had been enough to win his owner quite a bit of money up until his disastrous crash in his last race. Besides, if he paid people, that meant he would have a long-term ongoing drain on his profits. His shop didn't do much business enough business to take that kind of thing. "Take the boy's mother and go!"

"We are interested in both; therefore, we will take them both. This **will** happen." Dooku said again.

"Are you threatening me Jedi! One push of a button and -GAH!" Suddenly the Toydarian couldn't move. He hovered in the air held there by a Force grabbed from Dooku.

"Normally a Jedi would not resort to threats it is beneath us, a sign of aggression that all too easily can lead one slowly but surely to the Dark Side. However, slavery is I feel the greater evil here, and if we have to threaten you to remove from your presence two individuals you have treated as property so be it."

With one hand still making the grabbing motion that was keeping the Toydarian in the air via the Force (his people were immune to mind tricks, not physical Force attacks like this), Dooku kept on pulling out money, putting down enough for four slaves on the table in front of the little creature. "That I feel is a more than fair price. Now, give us the device to turn off the chips implanted in Shmi and Anakin Skywalker."

His hand flexed, and the little alien was able to move once more. Warily looking up at Dooku, Watto moved over to pick up a small control device. "456759 for the mother, and for the boy…" he hesitated then said "453907."

"Very good," Dooku said equably. "Qui-Gon, why don't you take the device and head over now to turn off the chips? I will keep our friend here company."

"First you threaten me, now you insult me!" Watto nearly screamed, waving his hands in a way just shy of histrionics.

"Simply being prudent my friend," Dooku said still glacially calm, moving to leaned against the nearby wall. "it costs us both nothing to make certain your memory has not failed you after all. Unless it has in fact done so, in which case yes, it will hurt you."

It took Qui-Gon a few minutes to reach the Skywalker place but once there he quickly turned off the devices and radioed Dooku that he had. Dooku nodded equably at the flying little alien, setting the radio at his belt. "And thus our business is concluded. However, Anakin said at one point that you were a fan of pod races. You might like to know that Anakin was working on his own pod racer on his own time."

With that Dooku told the flying alien where Anakin had hid his pod racer. "I imagine that could be worth quite a bit, or could allow you to sponsor another pod racer yourself." Already the little alien eyes were lighting up, his previous surly acceptance giving way to interest. "You see my friend, we Jedi deal fairly when we can." After that Dooku left, with Watto still staring after him, then down at the money on his table for a moment before swooping down to start count it gleefully.

 **OOOOOOO**

By the time Dooku rejoined the others at the Skywalker place with the lifter carrying the Nabooan engine the others were mostly ready to leave. Master Fay though was still sitting in the center of the main room, her hands folded in her lap as she meditated on where they should go from here.

Dooku took up a similar position across from her, his own Force senses reaching out. But Dooku had never been the best at being able to use the Force to discern the future, precognition like that was difficult at the best of times with anything not directly involving yourself. And since the Veil had begun to grow over the Force, even that had begun to be the next best thing to impossible.

He did not look up as Harry and Anakin walked out of the back room, leaving a golden-colored droid. Lily, who had been hovering beside her friend did, and her son shrugged. "Anakin says he's been working on this droid for years now, building him out of bits and pieces. It's pretty impressive work, and I thought he could sell it to give his mother some money or perhaps even just give it to his mother to help her in the future."

"An excellent suggestion Harry," Lily said fondly, looking down at Anakin, who seemed eager to get on his way. He didn't seem to realize, or perhaps hadn't figured it out just yet that if he was accepted into the Order he would have to leave his mother behind.

Lily wasn't happy about that aspect of Jedi training, but despite all the changes master Yoda had been making to the Order of late, attachments to other people and especially family like that was still a big no-no. There was also of course the logistics of that sort of thing. The Order couldn't play favorites allowing a few people to have their parents nearby or the equivalent. They would have to extend that to all of the Order's younglings. At this point there was just no infrastructure in place to allow for that kind of thing, and there was still no sense of need for it either.

She looked over as Aayla walked back in having moved outside for a moment to look at the engine they had bought with Padme. Harry, the droid, Anakin and Shmi joined Padme, as Aayla went to gently wake up the two masters out of their trances. Dooku came awake before she could reach him. Hopping to his feet with a quickness that belied his advanced age he nodded to her, and moved towards the door joining the others.

But Master Fay came out of her meditation far slower, frowning. She looked over at Lily, her face showing a certain amount of confused worry. "Our little plan should be workable. With your help at any rate my dear," she said looking at Aayla as she got to her feet, reaching forward to run a gentle finger down one of Aayla's lekku.

The girl smiled, looking up at the taller master for a moment. "Whatever I can do to help Master Fay."

"We couldn't do it without you trust us," Lily said dryly. "You see, we'd like to make certain that something like your predicament doesn't occur again, and there is a device called a pensieve in my world. It allows other people to view your memories as if they were living them themselves."

"Oh that's evil!" Aayla said, quickly realizing what the two women had planned. Her lips twitched into a wicked smile. "How can I help?"

"Well for a start, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to teach Harry as much about your version of Force Stealth as you can. You and Master Quinlan are both students of Master Tholme's style and I think it will be essential in the near future."

Aayla suddenly turned serious looking at the older woman as they all three made for the doorway, gathering up Shmi as they went. She had been standing in the doorway, looking around the house for one last time. "Does that mean we are going to the temple?"

"If you can teach Harry how to use your version of Force stealth we will be able to stay there for a day or so, without the disaster, whatever it is, occurring. I will explain in greater detail later," Fay said quietly as they joined the others.

With Anakin surprisingly leading the installation process it was the work of only about 20 to 30 minutes to place the new engine into Padme's yacht and for them all to leave quickly. Anakin joined Padme on her ship, waving a hasty farewell to his mother as he followed Master Qui-Gon and Padme onto the ship.

Shmi joined Master Dooku. They waved farewell to the silver-painted ship as it left for open space, then turned and made their way to the patrol craft. Moments later they too left Tatooine, hopefully to never return.

 **OOOOOOO**

Listening to his assassin's report, Sidious seethed with quiet fury. He had hoped Maul would return with news of two Jedi dying. With them and with Naboo's new queen also dead, he could have had some of their pawns push for a vote of no-confidence and gotten elected himself. Not that the young girl couldn't be manipulated, but it would have been nice to be able to place his own direct pawn in her place on Naboo. There was a lot he could have done under that sort of circumstances. But it was the death of two Jedi which he would have truly enjoyed, especially the death of Qui-Gon Jinn.

Instead, his assassin had been stymied by sheer chance. _Force take it, with the Veil so strong such chance is supposed to work in our favor alone, not the Jedi's! Perhaps Plagueis is right in that the Veil still needs to be fine-tuned before it's effect is impossible to overcome._

 _But why Dooku was involved in the rescue operation like that is beyond my knowledge. Perhaps it has something to do with Fay being involved with him now? Damn that woman! Her aura of serenity and good will,_ even in his mind those words came out as a snarl, _has finished undoing all the work Plagueis and I put into Dooku in trying to subtly guide his interests into the Sith!_

"Something about this bothers me," Sidious said aloud not realizing he was doing it for a moment. "Were you able to find any survivors of their assault on Jabba's palace?"

"No master, at least none of Jabba's thugs who were there at the time. I mind probed several dozen of Gardulla's people who arrived on the scene after, but they could not tell me anything concrete," Maul replied, his head bowed.

 _How did Dooku know to be there? How did this group of Jedi realize that this other Jedi was in danger? The Veil should've stopped any such vision, and if it had not, the Council surely would have been able to see it. What is going on here?_ Sidious thought furiously.

"There are questions here that need to be answered Maul, but I am pleased you knew not to push things," Sidious said aloud, setting those thought aside for the moment. He would get to work on them as soon as he gave his assassin his new marching orders. "You will go directly to Naboo. Take command of some of the Trade Federation's droidekas. We might have to assume that there will be more Jedi assigned to the Nabooan crisis than we previously anticipated."

"I can still manipulate the Queen into pushing for a vote of no-confidence, that is not an issue, but Qui-Gon Jinn must die. He is one of the Jedi who is most suspicious of the Senate as a whole, and I know he has begun to mutter about there being some power behind the rise in the Dark Side. That shows too much perspicacity for me to be happy with. He must die do you understand me apprentice?" Sidious snarled.

"Yes master I will not fail you again," said Maul, bowing his head even further on the other side of the communication.

"See that you do not." Sidious replied, his voice low and dangerous before he cut the communication. _Now, what assets can I activate on Serenno and on Tatooine to figure out what happened here…_

 **OOOOOOO**

During their trip from through hyperspace, Aayla started to teach Harry how to use Force Stealth her way. With their mental connection it was almost easy to get across the ideas, though experience still played a factor. It was a mix of both Force Stealth and Force Cloak, as well as a few other factors, very mild subtle ones, which merged the ability to camouflage yourself into the surrounding environment with a sort of notice-me-not of a sort and covered your own Force presence to boot.

When Harry tested his new abilities on Master Fay however by trying to walk through the sitting area of the patrol craft she shook her head and pointed directly at him. "Not good enough," she said simply.

Across from where Fay was sitting Aayla gaped and the older woman laughed. The sound was like the tinkling of bells in the patrol craft's sitting area, a small bare area, dominated by the bunk beds which lined the walls and which doubled as seats. This was after all a combat ship rather than a personal yacht like Master Fay's.

"I know that Master Tholme and Quinlan are known to be very good at hiding, but there is a difference between hiding and being and utterly unseen. Besides, you might say I have a hidden advantage. I, after all know Harry. That makes it far easier for me to find his mind behind the Cloak that you put up. But that kind of skill is precisely what Harry needs to be able to fool, at least for a short amount of time." Fay went on, her voice stern and devoid of humor for a moment.

"So it's back to the drawing board been? Or does this mean we just won't be able to go to Coruscant?" Harry asked, his tone an alloy of worry and hope. He didn't really want to go to Coruscant, he been told so often by Master Fay and before her Master Yoda that it would end up in disaster somehow that he had lost any slight interest in going to the temple he'd had in the first place. "Is there any way we could get the Council to come to us?"

"Unfortunately that is the crux of the matter," Master Fay sighed looking up as Lily moved through the wall separating the sitting area from the patrol craft's cockpit. Behind her came Master Dooku, who had set Osic, Fay's astromech droid, to control the ship for the remainder of the journey.

"I have long thought that the High Council is a little too proud of their own perspicacity and positions. It would be beneath the Council's dignity for them all to come out to see us, even if they could come up with a plausible reason that the Senate would accept for such a move. And we cannot in good conscience ask Quinlan to leave out the fact that Harry arrived to save Aayla from his report. It is after all a very big deal. How else would you be able to explain away the fact that the slaves were freed in such a fashion and Sorenno is going to be involved in repatriating them?"

"So I spent much of last night and much of this morning meditating on what we should do," Fay said with a sigh. The Force was **murky** on the matter." She emphasized the words one after another, giving them a certain special meaning that Dooku seemed to understand immediately. The youngsters didn't, nor did Lily.

Sighing Fay decided to explain. "The Force usually sends or allows us to see portions of the future if we have the skill to discern it. I am of course quite good at that, the Force has guided my steps for…"

"Years, decades, centuries," Lily interrupted with a laugh.

Master Fay mock-scowled at her for a moment before turning back to the children. "I am one of the best when it comes to determining much a course of action into the future, as you know Harry. But the Dark Side has grown strong enough of late that even my ability to do so has been curtailed. I can still sense where the Force wants me to go, but when it comes to even a topic that is as convoluted as this one, it becomes far harder to discern meaning. In this case I saw several paths, each of them with a greater or lesser chance of leading to disaster."

Both of the children stiffened, while Lily's eyes narrowed, those emerald eyes of hers becoming hard gems as an unseen wind began to pick up around her. Dooku despite being somewhat surprised decided to not comment on it, watching as Lily moved to 'sit' on the upper bunk above the two children.

Sighing he moved over to take a seat next to Fay, leaning back slightly so he could look at everyone in the compartment. "Elaborate please. I must say that my own meditations on the matter came up with nothing, but this is not the first time I have felt my ability to discern my own path be restricted."

"It is a wise man who can admit he is not the best at something," Lily quipped, but her eyes were still those hard emerald spheres as she too turned back to her friend.

Master Fay sighed once more, looking up at her friend then the two youngsters before looking at Dooku. "In one, we attempt to ask that the Council come out to meet us. It doesn't work, and instead they send a few representatives, with orders to forcefully separate us from Aayla and from Harry both. I am uncertain why this happens, only that Master Yoda seems to have had no say in the decision. Needless to say we don't go along with it, and things spiral out of control, though why is a mystery the Force did not share with me."

"We can, as I previously mentioned try to cover it up. That doesn't work however, and Quinlan is heavily remonstrated with. Something happens, and…" Fay sighed. "I don't know why, but he is suddenly wielding his lightsaber against Aayla. I have no idea far into the future that bit of the vision was, but I can safely say it is a bad sign."

"Okay that's just not happening," Aayla said, shaking her head at the very idea of fighting her Master. While she didn't have as great a connection with him as she would have if Harry wasn't around, she still respected, even cared for him dearly. The idea of coming into conflict with him about something in the future was anathema to her.

"I don't see the connection between Quinlan being reprimanded and he and Aayla coming to blows," Lily said sharply.

"Nor do I, but I could sense that at heart it was about a schism within the Order which placed Harry, Aayla, and their friends on one side, and the majority of the Order on the other. Indeed it wasn't the only vision that had such a schism occurring. The third version of us not going to Coruscant, instead asking for Master Yoda and Master Windu to come out to us by name, which we could get away with…." she glanced at Dooku.

"Yes I can see how we could do that, I could ask for the two of them personally to come out to judge Komari's progress as it is well-known that I respect them more than I respect the rest of the High Council. Though I doubt that they would come alone, they would probably bring one of the others. But how would that start a schism?" Dooku said, his voice noticeably calmer than Lily or Aayla's.

"We would get them both on our side on the issue between Harry and Aayla. Yet they would be unable in turn to make the rest of the High Council agree to leaving you two together once it became known that Harry was the reason behind the new techniques Clan Saa has been introducing. There are many portions of the vision I could not make out, but essentially, the High Council splits, and Master Yoda is forced to step down and retire from his position on it with only Master Windu and Micah on our side. I think you can guess what would happen eventually once the truth of your bond came out. It would not come out all at once of course, but it would come out."

"So we have to meet with the entire Council daring whatever original disaster was supposed to take place if I go to Coruscant, which is why you told Aayla to teach me her version of Force Stealth." Harry said musingly, leaning back. "But who are we hiding from?"

"I wish I knew. I tried to see if it was indeed an individual or a group or some other reason, but I could not feel the truth of the matter." Fay said shaking her head. This had been the most frustrating series of meditations on an issue she could remember. Normally she was able to discern a path for herself and in recent years Harry but the Dark Side was so strong now, and this issue so complicated, that discerning a single path forward was the next thing to impossible.

"Lily could well be another issue, but once we are within Temple environs hopefully that will be enough. It was never her being on Coruscant that caused the disaster, it was you Harry. I'm sorry, but that hasn't changed. You'll need to be very careful about using your Force powers while we're there, and I want you able to fool **my** senses let alone anyone else's before we get there."

"I find it interesting, that you haven't mentioned one other possibility." Lily said tartly. "If the Order is still so against attachments, love and emotions then what's to stop us from simply leaving and heading somewhere out in the Outer Rim?" she asked, looking down at her son.

Dooku stiffened at that, understanding what Lily was implying. She wasn't talking about just leaving Sorenno, or going off into the hinterlands of the Outer Rim without checking in with the Order and letting Quinlan handle the fallout. Lily was talking about leaving the Order entirely.

This was a perfect example in his mind of why divided allegiances were never a good idea when it came to Jedi. But Lily's loyalty wasn't even divided, it was to Harry, period, full stop. Their discussions over the past week had told him that much and he couldn't really argue with her on that point considering what happened to the boy before she came back from the dead. Even if he still had only the vaguest notion of how that had happened.

"Darkness," Fay said simply then smiled wanly at her friend's surprise. "Did you think I wouldn't think of that Lily?" she asked, her own eyes going slightly cold for a moment. Harry had become **her** son as well over the last few years after all, and she had never really had much truck with the Order's totalitarian organization. She wouldn't abandon her duty as a Jedi, but nor would she have stood in Lily's way on this if it was the best way forward.

"But that vision was actually the strongest of them all. If you take Harry and Aayla and leave, Harry and Aayla will live a happy decently long life, but the Dark Side will grow ever stronger, and then," she leaned back now, looking weary and old for the first time Harry had ever seen. "Then the Order is gone, I know not how, I see visions of wars, but that is all, and suddenly there is no longer any Light in the universe, because even the three of you fall to it eventually."

Lily frowned, but retorted, "That seems awfully convenient. I think that the Order has benefited just as much as Harry has so far, but if they're going to start intruding into the bond between him and Aayla **again** , then I'm sorry to say that my priority is Harry's safety and happiness. If it can't be done within the Order, then maybe we should look elsewhere."

"I wouldn't be willing to do that anyway mom," Harry said interjecting and bringing both women's eyes to him. "Aayla isn't my only friend within the Order, and besides, it…it wouldn't be right. It wouldn't be right to leave the Order after all it's done for us, and it wouldn't be right to leave the Order in the lurch like that if I can make a difference to this encroaching darkness." Next to him Aayla nodded wordlessly, squeezing his hand hard. She wouldn't be willing to just leave the Order either.

Dooku spoke, his aged face set in grim lines. "The Dark Side is growing regardless of your presence padawan Potter. Indeed it has been growing for decades though we did not realize it until recently. But I will say that your abilities, and frankly the fact that your bond is of the Light gives me much more hope for the future then I had before Master Yoda and Clan Saa began to share your techniques with the rest of the Order."

"Are we so certain that they will even try to separate us?" Aayla spoke up for the first time her voice coming out small and worried to her ears. She hadn't liked the talk about darkness encroaching and all that, and she **really** didn't like the idea of the High Council ordering her and Harry to separate again. She knew attachments like this were forbidden but surely… She looked down as Harry squeezed her hand, hearing his words of reassurance through their link before turning her attention back to Master Fay and Dooku.

"If they had been there to see the two of you meeting in person, to feel the Light waves of Force around the two of you like I did, then no they wouldn't," Dooku said, his voice certain. "None of the Council except perhaps Master Koth and Master Tiin are so wedded to the Order's rules that they would be able to countenance doing so. But after the fact, I think the idea that your bond is of the Light will be obscured by the history of such things in the past."

Fay allowed herself an exasperated huff of displeasure. "Master Dooku is correct. Numerous Jedi have fallen to the Dark Side through trying to form attachments. One of the worst Sith from the New Sith Wars fell because she loved her fellow padawan, and when confronted she decided to leave the Order and he did not. The breaking of that bond caused her to Fall into the Dark Side, and they will worry about a similar thing occurring here, despite whatever you tell them of the bond."

Dooku took up the tale grimly. "Added to the bond will be their ongoing concerns about your techniques and about the fact you and your clan do not wish to follow the New Code, and, perhaps even Master Yoda's complicit aid in both the clan's ongoing individuality in that area. You have not seen it Master fay, but the fact that so few ancient and wise Masters of the Order are unable to perform these new techniques has not sat well with many. When I was on Coruscant last, there was a growing sense of disharmony because of it. No, you will have to prove your bond is both special and of the Light, and also defend Yoda's backing of your isolation from the rest of the Order Harry."

Lily had been looking down at her son and him up at her since his declaration that he wouldn't be willing to run away. Now she sighed, and leaned down through the top bunk, her arms going around her him in one of her ethereal hugs, as she kissed his cheek. "I think we've done too good a job with you Harry Potter, you're too darn noble for your own good. Alright, let's do it then."

"You say that as if being too noble is a bad thing milady, as a noble myself I feel I must take offense," Dooku said, smiling now at the two of them as Harry flushed in embarrassment and Aayla giggled, her own mood improving dramatically. "So you are agreed you must chance Coruscant?"

The others all nodded with varying degrees of acceptance, and he smiled wintrily. "In that case padawan Secura, I suggest you and padawan Potter get to work."

"And Fay and I have some work we need to get to too. If we're going to beard the lions in their den, there's no reason we can't go armed as well as forewarned." Lily said resolutely.

The rest of the trip passed uneventfully, and they arrived on Sorenno without further incident. By the time they did, Aayla had a good idea of how long it would take Harry to become proficient enough with Stealth to fool Master Fay, which she herself could not do yet, but Master Fay had said that Master Tholme had at one point when they were on the _Explorer_ together.

Landing at Carrania they found Quinlan already working with the locals to repatriate the slaves, which the Jedi quickly began to help with. As they were Harry stopped occasionally, staring at some of the workers around them who are talking to the various slaves in a distant, somewhat odd manner. It wasn't as if they were looking down on the slaves for the fact they had been slaves exactly, but it was as if the very idea of slavery was so… blasé. Or as if it was something they didn't really or couldn't quite care about.

"What's wrong Harry?" Aayla asked looking over him.

" _I'm just now realizing how slavery is viewed by regular people on planets like Sorenno,"_ Harry said through their link. His astral projection appeared in her mental fortress as his body continued to go through the motions of helping Master Fay look over a few of the slaves who were suffering from various ailments. _"It's just, it's treated so…_ _ **normally**_ _. Just like a fact of life for something, one that doesn't really touch most of them. That's really not good."_

Aayla's astral projection popped in as well, and she cocked her head not understanding what he was getting at.

" _I mean, that slavery is either simply not thought of, like with Padme, not seen, like on Naboo or some of the others I've been on and thus ignored, or simply not cared about. As if it doesn't touch on your people can ignore it. It's very strange to me."_

" _That's just how people are Harry, I don't understand how that can be a surprise."_ Aayla said, with more than a bit of tartness in her tone which she would not have allowed anyone else to hear.

" _You're missing my point Aayla,"_ Harry said, reaching over to grab her hands in his, the feel of her fingers as solid here in her mental plane as if they were doing it in person, something they both noticed and vowed to… experiment with at some future date. _"The Jedi order doesn't have enough_ _ **influence**_ _to stop the trade entirely. While we can try to crack down on the illegals slave trade, the legal slave trade will keep going on, undermining our efforts at every turn. Instead, we need to figure out ways to start changing people's minds, their views on slavery and its evils. Some kind of public campaign the Republic over, along with a push in the senate to make all slavery illegal."_

Aayla smiled gently while Harry talked as if he was the first person to come up with that idea. There were actually nonprofit groups devoted to trying to stop the slave trade, but they didn't have nearly enough influence across the republic to make much headway.

She leaned forward gently, kissing Harry on the lips, pressing her body against his as both of their physical bodies stiffened slightly before she pulled away, ending their connection as she physically turned to him. "Harry I love the fact you want to help, and I agree the Order should be doing more about making people aware of the issue. But please don't get your hopes up about that making a difference right away. Slavery is too deeply entrenched, and far too wide spread in the Outer Rim let alone the Core Worlds with their 'indentured servants' for even the Order to make much difference."

"What are you two talking about?" Fay asked, looking up from her patient. The young woman, a human female of around 24 must've been a slave for at least six or seven years, and bore the scars both on her soul and body to prove it. She was still beautiful of course, but the scars were there, for those with eyes to see. Fay had already started to deal with many of the physical issues, but Master Unduli and other local specialists, psychologists and medical personnel, were all around them as well.

Harry explained as around him more than a few of the helpers either frowned or looked away as Harry talked about how morally reprehensible it was to simply ignore the issue of slavery. Aayla noticed their reactions and shook her head. Sentient nature being what it was they would no doubt have forgotten about it in a few hours after they left. But perhaps, just perhaps they would put more effort in helping the ex-slaves right in front of them for now.

"I agree with you," Fay said after a moment, "However, the Jedi Order doesn't have the resources to pull something like that off. We barely have a PR department all, let alone one that would be up to that kind of a challenge. Nor does the Order as a whole ever make such large, sweeping statements as what you are describing."

Harry nodded sadly before going back to work.

It took the rest of the day, but eventually the repatriation process was fully organized, all of the slaves medically cleared and given housing for a time. It would take several weeks to get them all home of course. Many of them after all had come from planets which had no connection with Sorenno at all, and others were simply on the far side of the galaxy from Count Dooku's home planet. But now that it was organized and the local government involved it was going to get done one way or the other.

That evening, while Harry and Aayla went to the beach together with Master Quinlan in order to catch up with him Master Fay checked in with Komari and Luminara. She was happy to see that the progress the two of them had been making had not slowed down in her two-day actually agreed with Master Unduli that Knight Vosa should be allowed to carry her lightsaber once more. She wasn't going to sign off on Komari going all out on missions anytime soon, but the younger woman had enough mental and emotional balance no for Fay to believe Komari could practice training once more and not become a danger to herself or others.

That evening Lily showed up before Harry, Harry and Aayla now walking around the grounds of the estate, having more 'us time' as Lily put it.

Hearing that Master Unduli shook her head. "I still do not understand why you are so willing to look the other way on this issue. I know I can sense their connection, but even so attachments like that will lead to jealousy. They always do. You probably do not know but when I was younger, a knight by the name of Shan-Ree fell for a young man, a Antaran Ranger. But she eventually fell to the Dark Side when they could not spend enough time together, and he gradually fell out of love with her."

"Then perhaps you should listen to what you just said," Lily retorted tartly. "They could not spend enough time together. That certainly won't happen if Harry and Aayla are allowed to stay together."

"You're missing the point Lily. We Jedi, with our connection to the Force emotions such as love can all too easily be turned around entirely. There is a corrupting effect to the Dark Side, anger, hate, fear, aggression. All of these emotions once you feel them can become a part of you, can corrupt you. If their love turns to jealousy…"

"You misunderstand the nature of their bond." Lily said, looking over at Fay who nodded, indicating Lily could tell Luminara what they knew of the bond. "It isn't just a Force thing, it's a full mental connection. They literally feel one another's emotions and thoughts. Admittedly I thought maybe this could lead to some moments of friction, but I haven't seen any yet. And until I do I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. That is something you Jedi seem unable to do, you're unable to admit that you should take people as they come rather than as you believe them to be. You always put your own opinions above anyone else's until the fact you're wrong is rubbed into your faces."

Luminara winced at that attack, knowing it did hit on a problem with the Order: Jedi tended to trust what the Force was telling them over what they could find out in others ways, and it did indeed cause problems at times on missions if the Jedi didn't make allowances for the need to find physical things to back up his or her feelings from the force.

"As for the idea of anger and hate corrupting, I haven't seen the phenomenon, but Fay has, and she believes the effect is real." Lily went on calmly. "However again you are basing that argument on their love turning around on them, and again I say their mental connection would make that next to impossible so long as it remains intact."

Master Unduli sighed faintly, leaning back. "I cannot win this argument on logic alone it seems. But the Force is not the most logical of phenomena in any event. Further the corrupting effect of the Dark Side is real, the danger of it too great to allow for attachments which might lead to those feelings. Still, it will be the Council's decision whether or not to separate them, or to even try to break their bond. I will abide by their decision." With that the woman stood up and moved to the door, closing it gently behind her.

Lilly shook her head staring at the door for a moment before turning to look at her friend. "You know before all of this came up I actually liked her."

"Luminara is a product of both the Order and her own species. The Mistrali tend to be rather cautious in terms of courtship and things of that nature, and I think there is also a certain amount of wistful jealousy within her as well. After all, you were correct in saying that Harry and Aayla's bond would stop them from feeling jealousy, or being overly anxious about one another, which are the most common ways that attachments can lead to the Dark Side. I also sense that Luminara has an interest somewhere else, a wistful 'what if' in her mind." Fay shrugged. "She might come around eventually, but even if she doesn't she won't interfere."

"I hope so, like I said, I liked Luminara before this." Lily said with a laugh, then turned serious. "You know, not only should we start our little project soon, but I think we can turn it into a two birds with one stone kind of deal. After all, why should we limit ourselves to Aayla's memories about what almost happened to her Why not use your memory of the feeling through the Force when Harry and Aayla met again physically?"

Master Fay's eyes widened. _Why did that not occur to me!?_ "Excellent idea Lily, can we start tonight do you think?" she asked quickly, standing up.

"We can start working on the arrays tonight yes though we'll want to make certain we have them all in proper order before we start inscribing them. We should also think about the design of the pensieve as well…"

The next morning, Harry and Aayla were both woken up by Master Dooku and Quinlan, who had the two of them move out into the training area. "We will start our day with your practicing your Force Stealth training, both of you. Until you can sneak up on Master Fay, myself and Quinlan, we will not be satisfied. Quinlan and I have discussed it, and he is going to be making a preliminary report this evening on what occurred on Tatooine. He and I have written most of it already, and it should give the Council enough information to satisfy them for a time, as we work on getting the repatriation process started."

Quinlan nodded from where he stood beside the older man, looking at his padawan. "I will be transporting most of what we gleaned from Jabba's computers today as well as the repatriation process and Aurra Sing's death, but won't go into detail on why we broke cover. Or about…"

"About my uncle's involvement," Aayla replied with a nod. "Don't worry master, any familial feeling I still had to him is long gone now given what his ID'ing me almost meant."

"I realize that, I was simply trying to be delicate is all. Since it obviously hasn't worked I'll revert to type." Quinlan quipped, eliciting a giggle from his padawan and a snort from Harry.

"Nonetheless you won't be able to stay here for more than a bare day, but that doesn't mean you get out of training your lightsaber skills padawans. For today we will be splitting up your training like this: Mornings for stealth as Master Dooku said, then late morning and early afternoon lightsaber practice, Djem So for you Harry while Aayla practices her Jar'kai with me. Will switch to pure lightsaber dueling after two hours of practice."

"Then after lunch, you'll switch to Shienand Aayla will switch to Force training with me. How much of the techniques you developed since the two of you were separated does Aayla know already?" Quinlan asked bluntly.

Aayla and Harry exchanged a look before turning back to the two masters. "All of them." Aayla said with a shrug. "I mean he shared most of his memories with me over the past few days about how he'd come up with them. I can't do many of them, at least I don't think I can I haven't been able to experiment with them yet, but I've added a few to my skill set."

"Then this will be a perfect time to experiment. The evenings will be devoted to again for stealth. In the future if you return here we may replace the midmorning or late morning exercises with full on sparring Harry." Dooku said.

"So you can see more of what I can do Master Dooku?" Harry asked. He had come to trust the older man, and felt that he should be doing more than he was in teaching Dooku the Force techniques that Harry and Lily had come up with, as well as more of what Lily had taught him from their old world.

But Lily was adamant that Dooku come up with them on his own, and that Harry always keep some techniques a secret. Transfiguration and conjuration after all were easy enough to talk about, but only a few of the clan members and surprisingly Master Yoda had been able to do even small stuff completely unlike the large-scale things Harry could do in that area. And the cutting spells and other things that Harry had come up with from reverse engineering sort of the magic spells of Earth were things that Lily wanted to keep under wraps.

"Somewhat, but I want you to begin to get used to the idea of using your abilities in tandem with your lightsaber skills. Force Precognition is all about being able to both perceive your enemies' abilities as well as how best to utilize your own to take advantage of their weaknesses. If you do not get used to using all of your abilities, your Force Precognition will suffer and you open yourself up to unpleasant surprises."

"I see Master Dooku," Harry said thoughtfully, then his eyes widened. "Is that why you've also started teaching me tactics and strategy as well? I hadn't made that connection before."

"You are young yet, and you have not had the formalized lightsaber training which includes tactics, strategy and other lessons of that nature," Dooku said with a shrug. "In that manner you are, despite your incredible Force abilities, playing catch-up when it comes to direct combat."

 _Though it isn't as simple as that,_ Dooku thought dryly. If Harry could keep the range open, Dooku doubted that there was a master in the Order that could defeat him. Admittedly Dooku could do so now, but that was within a training salle. If Harry could simply teleport, say to the top of a nearby building and rain down his techniques, Dooku would be very hard-pressed to be able to close the range. Even his own Force Shield and other new techniques would be unable to stop that kind of assault.

Aayla snickered, nudging Harry with her elbow. "Maybe the two of us should spar, and I could show you how far behind in lightsaber dueling you are?"

Harry's eyes narrowed challengingly. "Don't underestimate me!" he said haughtily throwing his hair back with one hand as he glared at her, and Aayla laughed aloud.

"That will do for now children," Quinlan said, shaking his head internally at how the two acted around one another. They had thankfully gotten that whole spacing out thing out of their systems, but frankly he was a little bemused by the simple feelings and emotions coming off the two in moments like this. He was unused to being around Force users who were feeling such emotions let alone letting them show.

For three hours Harry and Aayla practiced their Force Stealth abilities, mixing in a few other spells or techniques in order to hide Harry from anyone looking for him physically or through the Force. Yet they still couldn't sneak up on either of the two men well enough to pass muster.

Master Fay did not make an appearance. She had left a message with Harry that she and Lily would be working on something. Knight Vosa and Master Unduli had gone out with her to purchase something, but that was as far as Harry and Aayla knew what they were working on.

That afternoon, Master Dooku once walked more stood across from Harry, their lightsabers on training mode, nearby Quinlan and Aayla also stood across from one another, their eyes locked as Aayla activated her twin lightsabers, holding them down low to either side of her body arms crossed slightly.

Standing along the side of the training salle Master Unduli stood by, watching this interestedly. She had not actually met any Jar'kai users other than Master Giiett, and had never sparred with the man so she was interested to see how Aayla would do. "And begin," she said calmly, backing away quickly so she could watch both battles. And they were battles, not just spars. Despite the fact that they were only using their lightsabers, none of the quartet seemed inclined to hold back further than that, and the sound of lightsaber's striking against one another filled the heretofore peaceful gardens.

Harry immediately sprang forward, his lightsaber coming up in an attack from Djem So, smashing into Dooku's lightsaber and trying to drive the older man back, using his Force abilities to empower his body's speed and strength as Master Fay had taught him. Dooku however while not having nearly as much Force to call upon as Harry, was better at manipulating it, despite Master Fay's excellent instruction. He was also a Master duelist, and simply deflected Harry's blow before his lightsaber came up into an attack of his own which nearly took Harry through the head, but Harry blocked that in turn and again swung in, moving this way and that as Dooku did the same, one hand behind him the other wielding his lightsaber like a fencer, using a modicum of movement for the most effect as always.

Master Unduli had seen that before, and so was not surprised. The other match interested her more, and she watched as Aayla pressed in on her Master. Both of them were using Ataru, the way of the Hawk Bat. This form emphasized movement, jumping, leaping, attacking from all angles and sides, with a wide flurry of movements, none of them designed with much power behind them, but with swiftness and speed.

Thus their match was a display of acrobatics that would've made any non-Jedi gasp in envy. But within two minutes Master Unduli could see that Master Quinlan was a very good lightsaber duelist. She had not run into him before this, but the way he anticipated his opponent's moves spoke of excellent Force Precognition, and the way his body, despite having been battered a mere day ago by his duel with Aurra Sing, was able to handle young Secura easily enough.

Aayla used both of her lightsabers in a blur, swinging this way and that, taking to the air as often as she could to attack from above, using her opponent's blocks to fling herself around and up over him occasionally, coming down to rest and then attacking from a new position. She was mobile and moving all the time as Ataru demanded, and her Jar'kai form was decent enough. Whoever had taught her how to mix Jar'kai into Ataru had done relatively well, Luminara decided.

In contrast Quinlan remained on the ground, but used short hops, rolls and dodges quite often. He rarely tried to block his opponent's lightsabers unless he had to, and then for a as short a time as possible before disengaging, while when he attacked and had the leverage he always tried to lock their blades in an effort to overpower the young Twi'lek.

But generally speaking he stayed on the defensive, pointing out little mistakes occasionally for the first few moments, before taking advantage of Aayla's mistakes, his lightsaber smacking into Aayla's legs and feet more often than the rest of her. Master Unduli nodded, understanding that that was a mistake many way of the Hawk bat user's made, forgetting they had to defend their entire body instead of just their upper torso or becoming too wedded to the attack.

Back with Harry and Dooku, Master Unduli saw that Dooku had enough of being on the defensive, and was now attacking shouting out instructions occasionally, mostly to do with footwork today, as well as overextending. Master Unduli had to nod at that as well, Master Dooku was truly a gifted lightsaber teacher.

Harry however was doing better this time around, as if that one bit of combat he had faced on Tatooine as well as speaking to Aayla for so long in his head had helped him fill in some of the gaps of his own training. Dooku wasn't shouting nearly as many instructions as he had been in similar bouts before their trip and all of them had to do with specifics to Djem So rather than basic lightsaber training.

Dooku too noticed this almost immediately as he went on the attack, and his eyes narrowed. "It would seem as if you have had a bit of an epiphany young padawan, excellent. That means I no longer need to hold back."

"Wait you wereeeE!" Those were the last words that Harry could get out that match as Master Dooku suddenly moved even faster and stronger, spreading his Force ability between Precognition and reinforcing his body to the kind of degree that Harry could not match. Of course he didn't have to, being so much younger and with more Force to call upon, but Dooku's experience allowed him to easily dominate the younger man, hurling him backwards again and again while Harry tried to break the older man's defenses, not content to pull back into a defensive stance.

Despite the fact that Makashi should have been susceptible to the power attacks of Djem So, Harry could not regain the offensive, something that began to almost visibly frustrate him as the match continued. Dooku had not said it before this, but while when he was using his Force techniques Harry would carefully mold his combat style to the needs of the moment, as a lightsaber duelist Harry fell back into a kind of focused aggression that made him perfect for Djem So. At this point in his training however, it allowed the older man to predict his attacks to an appalling degree.

The match ended when Master Dooku knocked his lightsaber out of position one time too many, and his hand came up into a karate chop as he twirled inside Harry's guard, the knife edge of his hand resting gently against Harry's neck. "And dead I'm afraid," he said calmly, before stepping back disengaging his lightsaber and powering it down with the normal faint sizzling hiss.

The other battle continued for a few more moments, before Quinlan once again got through Aayla's guard, his lightsaber slashing her across her thigh in a way that would have cut off her leg if his lightsaber had been at full power. She stumbled from the pain, and suddenly his lightsaber was there, pressed through her own defenses as she desperately tried to cross her blades to block it, the tip of it stopping right above her chest.

"Master Unduli, I believe you had some insights you wish to share as the outsider before we get down to forms and styles. We will then take an hour to go over various stances, moves and targets of the various styles, and then back to sparring again." Dooku asked, bowing towards the Miralian respectfully.

"Yes Master Dooku!" said Harry enthusiastically, powering down his lightsaber and bowing to the older man, which won a faint smile to appear on his face. The boy was eager, and a hard worker.

Later that evening, they began Harry's training in Shien. "This training is meant to enhance both your Force Precognition as well as your body's natural responses, your ability to automatically gauge distance and angles of attack." Dooku said as he finished tying down the helmet that blocked out Harry's physical senses. "Rely solely on the Force, reach out to it, let it flow through you as you do with your Force Precognition, but now it will be your only weapon."

"When it comes to Shien, the Force is a far better indicator than anything physical. We will do this for a few days then mix it up until you can use both your physical senses and your Force Precognition without them interfering as you try to deflect blaster bolts."

"If I may ask Master Dooku, why is it so important to train my Force Precognition in this manner for this style rather than Djem So or any of the others?" Harry asked. At the same time he unerringly moved into the center of the training area, his lightsaber igniting in his hand.

"A good question. This sensory deprivation training is also a way to combat your natural reaction. Your physical senses tell you 'I'm being fired at, I should get out of the way'. But Force Precognition can tell you how and from what angle the blaster bolts will come from, so that you will be able to not only defend yourself but to attack, returning your opponent's bolts towards them. You need to believe that and understand that the Force is telling the truth when it directs you to do so instead of fighting it, no matter how involuntarily."

"That makes sense, although that makes it sound as if you will eventually be training me like this in Djem So as well Master." Harry replied.

"Of course. In fact I had intended to work an hour of training like this into that before you had your Force vision of Aayla's being in danger. But to be blunt, I don't think you need to rely as much on Force Precognition or lightsaber skills as most Jedi would have to, even in close range. Your Force abilities are far more varied than most Jedi, padawan," Dooku said dryly, activating a small, circular droid which began to hover in the air on repulsors set all around its surface along with blaster apertures.

Harry chuckled self-consciously, rubbing at the back of the helmet that covered his entire head. A second later he brought up his lightsaber as one of the many droids shot a little bolt at him. Harry barely got his lightsaber up in time to block it then swept his lightsaber to the side, blocking a second, and had to jump up over a third. A fourth and a fifth followed quickly, and Harry whirled, unable to block the bolts and return them to their source, but able to us keep up with the droid set on slow at least.

"Impressive reflexes, good Force Precognition to start with." Master Dooku mused, one hands stroking his chin thoughtfully. Indeed, Harry was picking this up faster than Dooku thought he would. "We will continue to use the one droid, until you are able to tag it at full power. Eventually we will start adding more droids, after you acclimatize to the highest speed setting of the previous number. Between each, we will meditate and discuss the stances and underlying precepts of Shien. However long each step of this training takes is up to you padawan."

"Yes Master Dooku!" Harry replied, interspersed with the zapping sound of his sword intersecting another bolt. Every time he did the droid moved faster, it's shots becoming more and more random as time went on and it tried to overwhelm him.

However to Master Dooku's surprise, a few seconds later Harry was indeed able to angle his deflection back into the droid. The older man's eyes narrowed. Harry was a good student, rarely making the same mistake more than twice, and seemed to pick up lightsaber drills as quickly as someone with very little in the way of prior training in them could. But this was impossible. _Something odd is going on here._

He watched a few moments as the droid continued, its bolts becoming more powerful and its movement's even faster. Beside him Knight Vos called out instructions about how to feel out the Force around him, the movement of the air around the droid, the sense of danger in the Force as the droid targeted him for that brief millisecond it had to before firing.

But Master Dooku's eyes suddenly tracked to Aayla. "Halt exercise," he ordered and the droid's stopped hovering in midair directly behind Harry, his lightsaber having just swiftly come over his head and straight down to try and deflect the bolt. "A moment young padawan. Padawan Secura, is padawan Potter using your Force senses right now? Both physical senses and through the Force?

Aayla blinked. "I… don't think so Master." _"I should be able to feel that shouldn't I?"_ She asked mentally, looking over at Harry.

" _I don't know, if I am on not doing it consciously I promise Aayla!"_ The last thing either of them wanted was to be able to look through the other's eyes without having to think about it, that kind of thing could lead to… bad moments. The kind of thing that mom was worried about underneath her teasing. Neither of them were interested in making the other uncomfortable like that.

" _I know Harry."_ "Master Dooku, could you restart the exercise please," Aayla asked politely aloud. "I want to see if I can feel anything."

"Of course," Dooku said, reactivating the drone. The next second Harry was busy deflecting blaster bolts again.

Aayla closed her eyes, feeling out their bond for a moment then nodded slowly. "I think he is Master, but I think it's tied into his sense of danger through the Force, which is a relief. I wonder if I can do the same thing?"

"Only one way to find out," Master Dooku said, intrigued at this idea. Many Masters and padawans could fight as one unit, their Force Precognition merging and melding along with their styles into a single entity. But to do so unconsciously, especially with such a strange bond as what existed between the two of these youngsters, that was something else.

Aayla quickly leaped up from where she had been sitting on the grass eagerly racing over to Harry who pulled off the helmet, and helped her put it on. Since it was designed for human head there was a little difficult, but they were able to remove two of the lower plates to allow her lekku to hang loose down her front. Harry let his fingers caress them absentmindedly as he helped Aayla buckle the helmet underneath her chin, then stepped away, patting her on the head before joining Quinlan and Master Dooku. Aayla quickly activated her twin lightsabers, bringing them up and around, holding them ready at elbow height.

Without warning Master Dooku restarted the drone, looking over a Quinlan. "How many drones is she up to at this moment?"

"She was up to four at full power before we left the temple." Quinlan replied, somewhat proud of his padawan's skill.

"Let us make it five then," Master Dooku mused. "That way we will know for certain if she can use Harry's physical and Force senses to aid her."

A second later Aayla was leaping around, her lightsabers a twin blur of green light as she batted bolts aside. But within seconds, Master Dooku realized that she was indeed using Harry's Force Precognition to aid her. No way could a 15-year-old padawan have tagged three of the five droids in that short amount of time, one of which was even tagged twice, the one not incidentally nearest Harry.

"Fascinating," he said as he stopped the drones once more. "I have known Jedi Masters and padawans who work for years to build up the kind of rapport you two seem to have built into your bond."

"That kind of ability could be a serious game changer." Quinlan mused. "Does this alter your plans for Harry's training? Should we test their bond's distance? And whether or not it's just using their physical senses as well."

"It certainly is at least partly physical senses at least. I believe I have another helmet, I'll go and get it, and I think we should also have Master Fay join us. Her ability to feel out the Force is better than mine or yours," Dooku replied, already turning away.

Master Fay of course simply laughed as she watched the two youngsters, now with both of them wearing the sensory deprivation helmets, moving in tandem like the best Master/padawan pairs could, their lightsabers flashing and smashing bolts aside. "We should really have seen this coming."

"Is there any way we could shut down that portion of the connection? It hinders the training if they are always using this ability, and worse it builds interdependency. What will happen if they can no longer rely upon it because of distance?" Quinlan asked, shaking his shaggy head. Despite having taken the time that morning to shave and shower, his dreadlocks and Kiffar markings made him look unkempt even in traditional Jedi robes like now.

"You already answered your own question, Quinlan. Take Aayla elsewhere, send her with Knight Vosa and Master Unduli or something else of that nature," Fay said absentmindedly. Her face had taken on an introspective look as the two padawans moved to join them, having finished off fifteen droids at once. In this kind of environment, with the attacks coming in at all angles, that was very impressive.

"Let us experiment then. Though I think we should keep the true extent of their bond a secret, even when you are before the High Council." Dooku mused. He was concerned about how it would affect Harry's training going forward, but he could see the utility of such a bond in the future and was uninterested in letting anyone else know, even other Jedi given how he knew the High council would react to their bond already.

A series of experiments proved that Harry couldn't feel Aayla's emotions as well as she could feel his, but he was slightly better at using her Force Precognition and senses to feel out the area around her. They both concluded that made sense given what he had been able to do through Aayla when he helped her on Tatooine and her own ability as an empath.

Attempts to stop it occurring were completely ineffective. The two of them simply could not fully shut down their Force Precognition links. Distance helped immensely with the training though, simply removing Aayla from the vicinity forced Harry to stop using her Force Precognition to aid his own.

Talking about it over dinner, Master Fay summarized their findings from this new level of closeness in comparison to the way the bond had worked before the two youngsters were initially separated, shaking her head. "Their connection is always going to be there, always that bright little thread of Light between them. Neither one of them will ever be alone in their own heads ever again I don't think, not entirely anyway. They have to open that door to share thoughts, but the doorway is always there, waiting to be used, an undercurrent of emotions and senses going through it."

She sighed faintly. "I'm rather jealous in a way. They are sharing a part of themselves they can never share with anyone else."

Aayla cocked her head thoughtfully as she looked at Master Fay then at her own Master, who looked just as conflicted about this information as Fay did, despite having known about the bond for so long. Dooku did not, not having any kind of padawan bond with either youngster, though he was growing somewhat fond of Harry. "I don't know about that Master, I think we could if you want to try?"

Master Fay blinked looking at Aayla then it Harry, who was also looking at Aayla, nodding slowly. The two of them clasped hands underneath the table and then slowly lowered their mental defenses, and just as slowly Aayla began to extend a tendril of mental Force a whisker gentle Force touch toward Master Fay. She felt it and after a second closed her eyes and was…

Suddenly somewhere else. Fay found herself in the same kind of mental avatar she used when she had begun to organize her own mind under Lily's instruction. Her mind was normally a forest glade, filled with dozens of tiny pools and small trees. But now she found herself standing in what looked like Harry's description of his mental plane. And beside her, just as suddenly, holding her Avatar's hands were Harry and Aayla's mental avatars.

Harry realized as he stared through his mental eyes at his Master's form that it had never been his power his 'magic' as his mother had called it at the time, and still occasionally did that had forged the connection the bond between him and Aayla. It had always been **Aayla**! She had been the one to forge that path in the first place when she helped him to create that first Light Construct during the Bando Gora attack. Harry had merely solidified it. He had changed their connection into what it was now, but it was still Aayla who held the key to that door.

And just as suddenly Fay could feel it, the love and affection these two shared, the love and affection Harry felt towards her, the respect and affection Aayla felt towards her. There was no barrier here, her own feelings were bare to these two as well, her love for them, her concern, her growing worry about what the Force had planned for them. It was only the depth of Fay's memory and her internal shields that kept them from seeing as much of her as they would have from one another.

The depth of their union was beyond shocking to her, it was a joyful merging, as Aayla had said. Their minds were still separate, they had not become a hive mind, but they had become connected, and far more than the sum of their parts.

Then she was back in her own body, a smile so wide it split her face as she stared at the two children across from her at the table, Aayla gasping slightly, leaning against Harry's shoulder as the boy looked exhausted as well. For some reason that act had taken it out of both of them. "That was amazing Aayla, Harry, thank you for the experience. I don't know if I would be able to put up with it for long periods of time, but it was certainly amazing."

From her position against Harry's shoulder Aayla beamed at her, then turned to her own Master cocking her head, shaking off her momentary exhaustion. "Do you want to try Master?"

Quinlan Vos hesitated then shook his head ruefully. "I think not Aayla. I would not like to burden you with my own thoughts. My darkness is my own."

Dooku looked at the younger man then nodded thoughtfully. "I have heard such things spoken of before. Master Tholme is a harsh taskmaster, and skirts the edge of what is allowable often. Though not as often as the Dark Lady it must be said. That choice is mine as well. I prefer my thoughts to remain my own. Thank you though."

To that the two children nodded. Neither of them were willing to say it was probably just as much the love they felt towards master Fay as much as it was their trust in her that had allowed Aayla to forge that momentary connection. It made sense given that Aayla the empath had been the one to forge that connection, but it might have meant that any attempt to bring in Dooku would have failed.

Lily looked wistful for a moment then shook her head. "So we know about their bond, and how to stop it from hindering Harry and Aayla's ongoing training. That's good. Now, since were supposed to be leaving tomorrow morning for Coruscant, Master Fay and I have something of our own to share with you. We've come up with a game plan for dealing with the High Council…"

 **OOOOOOO**

Two men stood in Hugo Demask's office on Coruscant. The head of the Banking Clan stood by the window his eyes staring out across the Senatorial district of the massive city that was the capital planet of the Republic. Next to him stood a sometime political enemy yet personal friend, Senator Sheev Palpatine of Naboo. The public reason everyone knew for his being here at the moment was to talk to the Banking Clan head to see if Naboo would be able to receive a loan to help it rebuild after the 'Trade Federation's patently illegal occupation was overturned'.

Though they were indeed talking about the Naboo issue, the rest of that reasoning could not be farther from the truth. "The child queen is due to arrive in moments. How long do you think it will take to maneuver her to ask for the vote of no confidence?" Darth Plagueis, wearing his Hugo Demask guise asked.

That was the way the Sith thought of things. The Sith title was their real names, their real selves. Their old lives and names became masks they could take on or off at need. Hugo Demask had truly died when Plagueis was borne, his death leading to someone greater stepping into his place, just as it had for Sidious.

"She will attempt to speak to the Senate at least once, the TF's representative will speak against her accusations then the girl will supply evidence, possibly including Jedi testimonial. However given the Jedi's stance about the TF being allowed to arm its ships, their neutrality will be in doubt, whereupon it will devolve into a shouting match. I imagine by sometime this evening she will be willing to make a more aggressive move." Sidious said, allowing a faint, sadistic smile onto Sheev Palpatine's face as he imagined the power that would soon be his.

"Good. I am unhappy about the fact that Jinn is not dead yet, but Maul will no doubt be eager to show that mere chance cannot save the man more than the one time it has already done so…" Plagueis trailed off, feeling something.

As the creator of the Veil, Plagueis was able to use it to an even higher degree and without the level of concentration Sidious needed to use to sense something from a distance. Interpretation at this point was hard, but would become easier now that the final wrinkles in the Veil's coverage had been worked out, all they needed to do was keep feeding the Dark Side with minor conflicts and tensions, and the Veil would do the rest.

But this was something close, and something Plagueis had feared he would never feel. "The Vergence!" He hissed, turning quickly to the window once more. Sidious did too, realizing what that hiss meant and the two of them sent their thoughts out into the Veil. "The vergence is here… with the Jedi Jinn and his apprentice…"

Sidious was silent for a few moments, his febrile brain calculating, considering plans, discarding them, analyzing the angles. "In the short term this changes nothing, and I need to get back to greet my gracious queen," he snarled the words shaking his head. That would be a brief trip, considering that he was already dressed in his formal senatorial robes. "Should I get a message to you about what I find?"

"No, let no one think anything about it, we cannot allow a slip up, now of all times. I will remain here and use my Force senses to feel out the vergence and see what I can discern of it, or rather him or her, if I can. Heh, at this close his presence practically washes out the other two Jedi with him, good, very good, the vergence is powerful as it should be…" With that Plagueis fell into a trance, not even noticing Sidious leaving, so intent on his old creation was he.

 **OOOOOOO**

The very next day, Master Fay, Lily, Harry, Aayla, and Quinlan left to return, in some cases anyway, to the Temple on Coruscant. As Fay's yacht was registered to her, a known Jedi, it was admitted into the insanely busy lanes over Coruscant quickly after coming out of hyperspace. As they waited for admittance through the capital planet's planetary shield Harry gawked at the amount of traffic this system had, beyond even Serenno's, which had been the busiest system he had yet seen. Massive cargo carriers, both huge in-system tugs and hyper-capable merchant ships, thousands of small personal yachts, hundreds of civilian transport ships, the list went on and on.

Master Fay was at the controls with Harry, not willing to let him take the controls in such a busy space Lane, while Aayla was listening in on the local traffic. "That's surprising…" she said after a second, her head whipping up as she looked over at her Master then Master Fay. "But according to the news, the queen of Naboo has just pushed for a vote of no-confidence in the Chancellor."

Master Fay brows knit together, unable to bring to mind who that was. "What was the Chancellor's name again? So many have come and gone I forget."

Quinlan looked at her askance for a moment, trying to figure out if that was a joke or not but Master Fay was being serious. Very few chancellors ever did anything that mattered to the Outer Rim, and she had not returned beyond the Inner Rim let alone the Core Worlds up until the point where the Force had told her she needed to be on the Explorer. Moreover, she couldn't really care less about the Senate or its power structure. She dealt with the politicians on the planet she went to, not the sector representatives.

"Chancellor Finis Valorum, he's been in power for eight years. As to the vote of no confidence have no idea whether or not that's a good idea or not," Quinlan replied eventually decided to take Fay's question at face value. The Chancellor has been rocked lately by several scandals since well before the Trade Summit on Eriadu and of course you know about all of the recent conflicts that have been popping up here and there throughout the Republic. There has been talk of his weak leadership being at fault for that, and that more centralized power and control could help stop further outbreaks of violence."

"Ah of course if something doesn't work once, why not try it again and again until it does..." Master Fay said under her breath, a sign of disdain she would normally not have allowed anyone to see.

Beside her Lily shook her head from where she was 'standing', half her body visible through the wall of the cockpit. But it was the ghost who expanded upon their joint opinion. "Even with Hypercom and hyperspace travel the Republic is too large for that kind of centralized authority to work in actually keeping order unless you're going for a full totalitarian government. The Ord systems are a better idea, nodal military forces able to respond to anything in their sectors. But given the downsizing the Republic fleet has seen in the last six hundred plus years I can't say it surprises me that there's been more outbreaks of violence in recent decades."

"Agreed, and at the same time factionalism and guilds have grown in strength throughout the Republic, each of them spending more time arguing about their rights rather than obligations." Fay went on as they finally got clearance to descend through the planetary shield, which shut down in a set section to let them and a few other ships through. "The Senate, even the sector representatives from the Outer Rim or even Colonies Region, have been too busy with their own power base, looking inward rather than outward for as long as I can remember, and that is a very long time. And whenever trouble comes up it is always someone else's duty to do something about it, and someone else's problem that it came up at all."

"That was too obvious a setup for me to want to follow up on Fay." Lily replied dryly. "But she's right. You can't have it both ways, both wanting more centralized authority but not actual responsibility."

As Quinlan's shoulders moved in a half shrug to indicate his ambivalence towards politics of all kinds Lily looked at her son. "Your Force Stealth is covering you?"

"Yes Mum," Harry said, looking ahead of them out the viewport as they descended through the shield, taking in the expanse of the city that was this entire planet. "I, I really don't like it here," he said after a few seconds of shocked staring, shaking his head. "I had heard that the whole planet was a gigantic city but seeing it is something else. This planet has no balance, no growing things, no natural source of water, I mean, how can it even survive like this?!"

"Most of the cargo haulers you see are bringing in food or taking away waste because you are correct Harry. Coruscant could not survive without interstellar trade for more than two weeks from what I remember. And you are correct my padawan," Master Fay said formally shaking her head and sighing sadly. "Coruscant has been like this for tens of thousands of years. No one has seen the ground, the actual surface of this planet for millennia."

'I always feel sad when I come here, that there are so many billions of people here who will never see anything remotely like actual nature." she continued, shaking her head. "The Temple was built here to make us that much closer to the Senate, but I've always felt that was wrong. It centralized our Order and placed us near the halls of power, but also removed us from the common people too."

A second later Fay felt her lips quirk upwards as she felt a mind through the Force reaching out to her in greeting. "Master Yoda knows we are here," she said aloud, "or at least that I am. If Aayla is correct about how good your skills are now Harry, he should be unable to sense your Force presence just yet."

A moment later, Aayla and Quinlan felt Master Yoda's mind reaching out to them as well, and Quinlan smiled faintly at the gentle pressure through the Force. Master Yoda's presence sometimes filled the temple when he was doing something like this. The other Masters could do much the same at this distance, at least those who had studied mind techniques. But their touches were like a poke or a touch felt through the mind. Yoda's was like a wind, moving over and around you.

A second later Fay banked the ship around into a slow downward spiral. "We will be landing at the temples personal landing area, and Master Yoda now knows that Lily and Harry are with us. No Harry I didn't mention you, though I gave him the impression of your mother, and Yoda is smart enough to know that she would not be far from you. He also has felt Aayla's presence, and I would wager has already begun to put two and two together."

Behind the two pilots Quinlan decided to make this a teaching moment, looking over to where Aayla sat behind Harry. "Reach out with your own senses padawan, see if you can feel any minds you recognize there. And Harry, try not to help her. That would break your stealth."

Harry nodded, watching Master Fay instead of Aayla as she worked the controls of the ship, moving them delicately through the crowded airspace over the temple and the Senate district. It was the first time he'd seen such crowed air lanes and it was interesting to see how the ship responded to the delicate maneuvering.

For her part Aayla closed her eyes briefly, reaching out with her senses through the Force. She wasn't nearly as good at this as she was at her stealth abilities. After a few seconds she smiled widely. "Zule is back! And so is Master Ti."

"Master Ti?" Lily asked looking over at her. "I thought Shaak was a knight?"

"She is, but she was also one of our teachers. In the temple you have to call any teacher master," Aayla said with a shrug, still not opening her eyes. "I can't feel Alecto, but since he was chosen by a Master already that doesn't matter much. I can feel Wulo, and a few of the other clan members."

"Stretch out further padawan," Quinlan ordered. "Try to feel out the minds of the Jedi you don't know well. Describe them for me." Since no Jedi would bother with Force Cloak or Stealth in the temple their presence in the Force could be felt by one another at a distance. The only Jedi who routinely hid her Force presence even in the Temple was the Dark Lady. Even Master Tholme didn't bother hiding his presence in the Temple.

This went on for a few moments, but Aayla could only find a few separate minds from the multitude that stood out to her enough for her to describe verbally. Of those she was able to give names only to a few: Master Windu, and Master Ranicisis and Yaddle. One felt like a mind made of metal, a fortress that let nothing in or out. The other felt like a very patient predator almost, while the last felt almost like Yoda, only younger and more outgoing.

"We will have to work further on that," Quinlan said with a nod. "Still, you did very well for your first attempt at this range."

Nodding Aayla opened her eyes just as the yacht touched down, its landing ramp slowly opening a moment later. Master Fay led the way out as was proper, with Harry in the center, his hood up to help his Force Stealth and Cloak to hide his features. Lily had already phased through the wall of the yacht, heading directly into the Temple where she startled a few Jedi, who gaped at the Force Ghost, but she merely waved at them heading towards the doors which led into the temple.

There she found Zule waiting in an open hallway, looking towards the large doors leading into the Temple. Master Yoda was there as well, and Wulo but it was Zule who noticed or at least acknowledged her presence first, since Yoda had no doubt felt her approach. The half-Falleen, half-human girl's face lit up at the sight of the Force Ghost. "Mistress Lily!?"

Wulo turned as well, as did several other Jedi Knights Masters and padawans in the vicinity. This area appeared to be a thoroughfare leading to and from different areas on this level as well as up further into the Temple. "What's the matter with you all?" Lily quipped, suddenly grinning and waving her hands at the onlookers. "It's like you've seen a ghost."

As Zule, Wulo and more than a few other Jedi surprised themselves by groaning at the horrible joke, Master Yoda turned to her, smiling. "Welcome teacher Lily. Strange it is that you have come, a reason there is for your presence, as well as that of Master Fay?"

"You might say that," Lily said, her face falling into grim lines for a moment as she moved closer to the aged Grandmaster, ignoring the ongoing shock and awe at her presence, waving Zule and Wulo away for a moment. "I respect you Yoda," she said slowly leaning down to so they were face-to-face and could whisper. "So I'm only going to ask two questions of you: Are you going to make a fuss about Harry and Aayla's bond and did you know what kind of missions she was sent on?"

Yoda stared into Lily's emerald eyes, and slowly shook his head. "Know explicitly what sort of mission Aayla was assigned I did not. Heard about it after the fact I did, worried I was, yet a way to recall her there was not. Your son and her bond, a reality it is, a hrhrhrm, fuss, I will not make." He sighed long and loud for a moment but did not look away from Lily's gaze "The decision to separate them, plagues me often over the years it has," he said quietly, so the onlookers could not overhear.

"Ah you've started to realize the big secret haven't you" Lily asked, shaking her head and 'standing' back up. "I don't think even my son is figured it out, though Master Fay has."

Yoda's eyes closed in pain for a moment that he still nodded. "Serve the Force the Jedi do, but the balance most important, too often Jedi have believed. Force of order well and good, a force for the right thing, the moral thing, better it would be."

"I wouldn't have put it quite like that, but essentially yes." Lily said as Master Fay and the others finally entered the Temple's main hall. Behind her came the others, with Quinlan carrying some kind of bundle under one arm, a wide bowl of some kind covered by a cloth to Yoda's discerning eyes.

Zule had been standing by respectfully allowing Lily and Master Yoda to talk, but when she saw Harry pushed back his hood the moment the doors to the Temple closed behind him, she grinned, racing forward to throw her arms around her two friends in a very un-Jedi like manner. "Harry, Aayla! I'm so glad to see you and that you're all right!"

This act brought looks of censure from many of the onlookers and one of the master's, an elderly human woman who had taught in the temple for decades, made to move forward. Yoda's eyes however caught hers and she paused as he glanced around them. "Business you all have elsewhere, yes? If not, business find for you I will."

The Jedi all around them moved on including the teacher, and with a sigh Yoda turned to Master Fay. "Good you are here, it even if a confrontation I predict the reason behind your presence is."

"That would be correct, Master Yoda" Fay replied coolly, laying a gentle hand on Quinlan's shoulder. "Quinlan here and Aayla have a report to make, and I think we should all be there. Best to get this over with quickly."

They looked over to Aayla and Harry who were greeting Zule and Wulo, talking animatedly amongst themselves.

Yoda tapped his gimer stick on the ground, the sound cutting through the general hubbub getting all four youngster's attention. "Wulo, return to meditation you will. Zule, own duties you have hrhrhrm? Your Master, finished with his own reports to the Council of Reassignment will be soon. Unhappy he will be if waiting for him you are not."

"True Master Yoda," Zule said, though the bright smile was still on her face. But unlike Wulo who peeled off at once she walked with the others up the stairs for a time, continuing to catch up. "Anyway, I had been thinking about the two of you for a few days, and I thought maybe something was going wrong on Aayla's mission, but my master said that was too vague and too based on emotion for us to act on."

She might have let a scowl appear on her face then if not for Master Yoda's presence. "He didn't like the idea that I wanted to get in touch with you and Master Fay either. Master Glaive is a great teacher for me in many ways, but… he doesn't really have the best personality. I suppose I need a sterner teacher in many ways given my temper and impulsiveness, and I learned a lot about diplomacy from Master Saa and Master Ti before being assigned to Master Glaive. But I wish he would trust my judgement as much as he does his own."

"When was this?" Fay asked, looking around from where she was in front with Yoda and Lily, speaking quietly to the two of them about Harry's progress and the confrontation to come interrupting their discussion.

Zule flushed as all three masters and even Quinlan turned to her. "Um, about… five days or so ago I think. At least, that was when I realized the Force might be telling me something."

"That would place it before Aayla got into trouble, and even before Harry had his Force Vision on the matter though during the time he began to be concerned about her. But you say it was a vague feeling, one you couldn't localize?" Fay asked, as Yoda listened intently. Lily didn't understand why this was important, but Quinlan had an inkling his brow furrowed.

"Yes master, just, um, I would think about Harry or Aayla at odd times, nothing connected, just random moments I think. Why, is that important?"

"It might be." Fay said, looking down at Yoda. As she had said before with the Dark Side growing in strength most Jedi were running into trouble seeing their own course into the future, let alone being able receive warnings about someone not directly connected to them like this. The effort Fay had to put into trying to see the proper way forward in terms of Harry and Aayla's bond and the High Council was proof of that, and not only was she one of the best at such things but they were intimately connected to her.

While what Zule was describing was vague, and based on emotions too, which a lot of masters would use to discount it as Master Glaive had, it might well be a good sign. If, that is, they could figure out a way to do the same thing consciously. That was going to be a tall order given the emotional element and the fact it was based off personal connections, aka attachments, which the Order frowned upon and also very much a part of the live in the now sort of teaching that the few Living Force proponents followed rather than the logic, balance and long term visions of the Unifying Force followers.

With that the two of them turned and began a new discussion on this information, while Quinlan and Lily Listened in. The three teens turned back to their own discussion, talking mostly about the missions they had been on, and what Harry had been up to, since Zule and Aayla had seen one another every day for years before Aayla became Quinlan's padawan. This went on as they moved up the temple until Zule stopped three levels below the top of the temple.

"Well, this is where I have to leave you guys. It was good to see you again, and I hope it won't be as long before we see one another again Harry." With that Zule impulsively threw her arms around the two newcomers, hugging them tightly before turning away, never noticing that Harry and Aayla had frozen just for a moment.

They had bot noticed Zule's build just then as she hugged them so tightly, and now Harry was frantically apologizing mentally to Aayla. _"I am_ _ **so**_ _sorry, Aayla, I don't, that is, it doesn't mean anything it was just a, an automatic hormonal thing!"_

To his surprise however, _"Don't worry Harry, Zule is really good looking, even I know that. Hmm, I wonder what it would be like to kiss another girl? Hugging other girls is certainly nice, they are so soft and smell much better, even better than you Harry."_ Aayla mused.

" _Erk…"_ Harry couldn't help it, he just couldn't stop his treacherous mind from going there just then, and the image of Aayla and Zule kissing and hugging one another appeared in his mind, swiftly being shunted aside into one of the pink crystals that marked his more embarrassing thoughts and feelings.

Aayla still spotted it however and broke out into a giggle that filled their connection. _"Oh ho, so that's the way of it is it, hmmm, I didn't know you had such perverse ideas hidden in these crystals of yours Harry, anything else I should know about?"_ She teased.

Harry couldn't think up a reply but thankfully for him Quinlan's voice brought them both back to the physical universe. "Aayla, Harry, you're falling behind."

"I wonder what that's about," Lily mused, as the two teens hurriedly caught up with the adults. Harry was now flushing somewhat, while Aayla seemed to be womanfully keeping in a case of the giggles, her lekku twitching to denote her amusement. Fay shook her head, having no idea and Yoda didn't even notice, so consumed by thoughts about what even the tiny hints Zule had gotten meant in the long term. A few moments later all of the humor had vanished from the group, as they made their way up into the High Council's meeting room.

Master Windu cocked an eyebrow as Yoda entered, followed by Master Fay and by Lily first. "Master Fay, I do not know if I could even guess the last time you set foot on Coruscant. And a Force Ghost? Suddenly certain long-held mysterious become less so. Though the reasoning behind the, let us call it well intentional obfuscation of the truth, does not."

Lily simply smirked at him before floating forward, her eyes roving around the room as she took in the responses to her presence. Evidently word of her arrival had reached more ears than just Master Windu, who Fay had described to her. None of the gathered master looked surprised, but most were looking at her closely save for Master Giiett who was smiling slightly in welcome. Like Master Windu besides Micah they were all thinking that she was the real source of all of the new techniques that had been spreading throughout the Order for the last few years.

Then Harry and Aayla entered with Quinlan, all three of them bowing formally to the Council before standing with Aayla in the center between the two very different looking young men. This close even the most blind to the eddies and currents of the Force could feel the bond between Harry and Aayla, a band of Light connecting the two of them. Master Windu's eyebrows rose, but that was the only sign that he allowed to show on his expression.

Leaning back Mace looked at the boy, not with his eyes but with his Force senses seeing beyond his connection to Padawan Secura, to the boy that he was. _A shatterpoint, just like all those years ago this boy represents a shatterpoint for the Order. Yet I still cannot see if Master Yoda was correct all those years ago, that adding in impurity to the Order would mean we would be stronger in the end._

Aloud Mace said, "I see there is more going on here than even I suspected. Why do two padawans seem to have a Force bond? It seems to be based on emotion as well neither of which should be allowed. Even you, Master Fay for all the respect you have earned cannot get away with flouting the Order's rules on this matter so completely."

"Start from the beginning I will." Yoda replied, speaking up in a way that made many of the council members blink in surprise. It was not at all usual for Yoda to start any discussion, he normally let everyone else have their say first then speak, since his position gave his voice such weight. But after he began to speak about how he had been called by the Force to the Explorer all those years ago, and his introduction to Harry and Lily, they understood.

There were a few narrowed eyes at the idea that he and Lily had argued about the Order and Harry's continued involvement with it, but the two of them took it in stride as did Harry and the others. Master Saesee Tiin, who Aayla mentally pointed out to Harry, cut in at that point. "Yes, Yes, we've had these discussion before, and there have been slow but steady changes to the Order's stance on abstaining rather than controlling emotions, Mind Healers like Master Luminara Unduli and Master Ve'lone Grant have made their points plain. We also acknowledge that sometimes humans and other weaker races need physical release to retain their balance with the Force."

Harry and Aayla both flushed at that understanding what he was saying while the humans on the council, even Mace Windu rolled their eyes at the physical strength and pilot specialist's dig at them. "But this bond between two equals is beyond even that. It is based on Light Side emotions now, but that is not the problem. the problem is twofold: the split loyalties this bond imposes, and conflicts such a split will invariably lead to. And the fact Personal attachment leads to jealousy, then anger, the Dark side. There is a reason even with the changes you have championed in the last few years Master Yoda that the Ruusan Reformations' changes to the Order have not been overthrown."

"I agree, and further the argument about family, while I agree it was cogently made and with many good points, need not be made here. The attachment I am seeing before me worries me far more, as does the fact that you willingly hid where these new Force skills came from." Master Gallia said.

Across from her Master Pouf also spoke up. "I for one am less concerned about this Force bond we see, after all, such things can be severed." He did not notice or ignored how Aayla flinched at that, while Harry's fingers curled, his eyes beginning to smolder. "I must ask why you thought that second point necessary."

Like a few of the council, Pouf had tried to learn the new techniques, only to find himself unable to grasp them for some reason. Some could use the Force Shield, or the red knock out blast, but that was all. Only Giiett and Windu could do more, a wind assault which was basically a less condensed version of the Force Crush he already used with such proficiency. Pouf, Tiin, and Eeth Koth could not do even that much.

Yoda merely nodded, then began to discuss the number of techniques Harry and Lily had passed on already, as well as more than a few things they hadn't. Harry demonstrated his conjuration skills to the shock of the council, as did Aayla, then they showed a bit of their element manipulation as well. Fay stepped forward after that, describing the experiments she and Lily had conducted into runes. After all, talking and even showing things like this was one thing, teaching them another. She was very careful to mention the number of mishaps the two of them had run into during their tests. At no point did any of them mention the combat 'spells' Harry knew, and had begun to use in combat at times.

Here the conversation bogged down to an intense question and answer session. Many of the Council tried to catch Lily or Harry out about the nature of the techniques. Specifically, they tried to link transfiguration to something called Sith alchemy and their elemental control to Sith Lightning, trying to get one or the other to admit to using emotion to power them.

They continually tried to insinuate all of their spells were based on emotion, positive or negative, or that the techniques propagated a more emotional mental state. They sort of did in a way, imagination was integral to several of their techniques and emotions went with imagination. However there simply was no basis for their concerns: Lily had never taught Harry Dark spells, and he had never come up with any attacks that fed on Dark Side emotions. The one experiment he had tried back on Earth was still prevalent in his mind, and a few times during missions he'd had to deal with anger when dealing with slaves or cleaning up after pirate attacks, so he knew they had a corrosive element. Aayla too had to deal with anger, far more than Harry, but neither had ever reached out to the Force through those emotions.

There were some looks of consternation and chagrin at the explanation for why many of the most learned masters of the Order could not perform the techniques, while many a youngling could perform them with practice and patience. Yoda nodded at them all. "Concerned I was, lead to a schism within the Order the new techniques could. Introduce them slowly under my egis we would. Worked up to a point it has."

"And you kept Young Potter and Mrs. Lily a secret for that reason, the… odd… nature of their origins, and this vision of their being on Coruscant at the time leading to disaster. I wish I could take umbrage at you following such an vague Force vision, but given how clouded the future is becoming I can understand," Mace said, leaning back.

It was at that point that Harry suddenly realized something that Fay's unique abilities had hidden him from before: the Dark Side of the Veil was impacting the Order a lot more than he had thought, though it wasn't really his fault that he had missed that. Despite looking to the Force to guide her from mission to mission, Fay had never forced Harry to do the same, believing such skills would come with time if at all, and unable to really describe how she followed the Force's eddies to such a degree in any event.

But the rest of the Order did the same thing, if not to the level of detail she could. They looked to the Force to guide many of their decisions, large and small, on missions and not, just as much as they looked to the Order's organization for orders.

And now with the Veil of the Dark Side becoming more powerful with every passing year long term visions were becoming impossible to discern without difficulty. Even medium range visions as it were, such as where an individual Jedi should go from here within a few months, was becoming harder. This left the Jedi bereft with no long term direction, like a ship unable to navigate. And such people tended to become more reactionary than they otherwise would have.

In another timeline, one without the offsetting Light of Harry and Lily's presence, the Jedi would be unaware this was even occurring for some time to come, certain they were still seeing the future as well as they could, never realizing they were being led astray until the Clone Wars erupted around them. Here that was not the case, but they were still slowly becoming intolerant towards anything different than what they could personally discern.

"I can agree with and even respect that decision Master Yoda. It took great courage and moral fortitude to make such on your own. However I must still raise my objections to the bond we are seeing here between Padawan Potter and Padawan Secura. Regardless of his importance to the Order we cannot make allowances in this area less we open ourselves up to accusations of favoritism when others being to emulate them," said a male Zabrak sitting beside Master Windu.

"Our Oaths against attachment and exterior loyalties have made the Jedi Order the keepers of the Republic's peace for a thousand years. Attachment to another person that is as strong as what we are seeing here can lead to love, greed or jealousy and a lust for power, which inevitably leads to the Dark Side. Just look at the example of the misguided Gilthany from the New Sith Wars, or that horrible incident a few hundred years or so ago when three Jedi fell because of their lusts and jealousy towards one another." He summed up with a tone of condescension.

" _That's Master Eeth Koth,"_ Aayla supplied via their link. _"He's, um, sort of an arrogant kriffer according to Master Vos. He's one of those that believe the Order can do no wrong, and that as long as we remain balanced in the Force that means whatever we do is the right thing to do."_

Making no visible sign the two were in communication, Harry replied. _"Don't worry Aayla, we've got this. They won't separate us, whatever happens."_

"We allow attachments, and even now make allowances for physical attraction," Micah replied blandly. "And as has already been stated, we seem to be entering a time of great upheaval for the Republic as well. In such times we must change, to grow, to meet the dangers we face. Master Yoda's reforms are a step in that direction and they come originally from Harry. I think we're being rather ungrateful here."

Next to him his friend Master Plo Koon sat silently, unwilling to take part in this discussion one way or another, not certain in which direction justice lay at this point. The Kel Dor also felt that there was some reason the two padawans were being so silent, and he also wondered about why they were here at precisely this moment too. He feared it had something to do with young Aayla's last mission, and what that might entail.

"Further the reforms are about allowing more emotions under controlled setting and techniques, not an emotional attachment to the level we see here. Further there is a difference between a bond based on friendship or loyalty to one based on love. There are limits to how far most people will go for friendship. Not love, love is the most illogical and selfish of emotions," retorted Koth.

"Masters without that connection both myself and my padawan would be dead." Quinlan spoke up for the first time, arresting the ongoing debate. He explained their mission, how it had gone wrong first by Aurra Sing showing up then by Pol Secura recognizing Aayla when she was busy hiding her Force sense, trusting in her color change to hide her physical identity.

Sing's death at Quinlan's hands wound some grim nods of approval from the masters. She had proven a danger given her murder of several Jedi before this, and all of them knew she had Jedi training from her time as the Dark Lady's apprentice too. That it had been the new techniques which had let Quinlan cut her down also made Mace and Tiin nod toward Master Yoda. It was evident that none of these masters were willing to look askance at the techniques Clan Saa had already shared any longer.

However the council members stilled, their faces blank in shock as Aayla took up the tale from her perspective. Silent up to this point, she couldn't stop herself from glaring at the masters who had assigned her to this mission as she described how she had suddenly been gassed, and then what was going to happen. And none of the masters there could meet her eyes, never having realized what she could face. It had been ignorance and institutional arrogance not callousness that had sent Aayla on her last mission, not that it would have mattered.

"And then…" she said, smiling suddenly, a wide happy grin on her face as she took Harry's hand in hers. "And then Harry was there, in my mind, in my soul, using his mind to take control of my own Force powers and purging the drug in my system, bolstering my powers with his own. He saved me from a fate that many would call worse than death."

Her tone turned scathing as she went on. "And you sit here, safe in your high tower, removed from the normal people we Jedi are supposed to serve, and dare say our attachment is against the rules!" Aayla scoffed, turning away.

Harry spoke up then, the first time he had done so except for answering the questions about directed his way. And when he did, Fay and Lily both realized that Harry had figured out the same problem with the Order that they had. "The Order is supposed to be a force for good, for law, order and morality. Yet at the same time, the Order, as an intuition, follows the way of balance and at times seems to ignore the feelings of its members for an all too hard to grasp ideal, a Greater Good."

While Lily held in a laugh at Harry's word choice Harry went on calmly. "There are two sides to the Force, the Light and the Dark, but the Order seems to think that simply by abstaining from the Dark Side you are automatically of the Light. But good emotions, like love," and here he squeezed Aayla's hand sending a feeling of I love you through their link as she did the same. "Friendship, loyalty, a desire to defend, all these emotions can give you power just as much or more than keeping to a sense of serene balance, of calm or a sense of self-control."

After finishing his short passionate speech Harry looked around him then concentrated, his hand glowing white with the Light for a moment. "I am of the Light, I use my good emotions, while not letting anger, hate or arrogance into my heart. Can you say you serve the Light when all you do is try to not feel it because you are so afraid of the alternative?"

It wasn't a Light Construct, that kind of thing could not have been covered by any kind of Force Stealth, even standing here surrounded by the Force presences of all of the high Council. Besides, he wanted to keep that technique a secret until he had to use it. Not, mind you, that Aayla hadn't already seen it in his head, she'd even made suggestions.

Capitalizing on the council's somewhat stunned state Lily floated forward in the glow of her son's hand against the backdrop of Coruscant's setting sun, glaring around her at the stunned High Council, staring at the women on the Council in particular, though she hesitated in the place of Yaddle, considering her species didn't reproduce through sex. "You sit there and you question my son's bond to Aayla, when it is only that bond that saved a 15-year-old girl from rape and eventual murder."

More than one of the people in the Council flinched as she said the word 'rape', and she laughed harshly. "Oh I'm sorry, did you think something else would happen to a **female slave** who was drugged to the gills? Did you think Aayla's being a Jedi would've saved her from that fate?"

Her eyes narrowed, and a wind picked up all around them, as the Force reacted to her admittedly righteous anger. She shook her head, regaining control of herself with difficulty, but she wanted no ambiguity here, no one could later on say that she had giving into her anger like a Dark Side user would or whatever they might say.

When Lily spoke her voice was crystal clear and cold as the edge of space with about as much mercy. "I hold you all beneath contempt. You sent a young girl of 15 on a mission where could almost say just destined be raped if anything went bad. Only Harry's intervention saved Aayla from that."

"And what would you have done if that had happened?" Lily went on softly, shaking her head sadly. "Tried halfheartedly to bring her back from the darkness your own actions through her into? Would you even have apologized? Or would you turn your back on her, because she was no longer perfect in your eyes, because when she after such a traumatic experience could only feel hate for the people who did it? I know how many of you wanted Komari Vosa imprisoned for her nearly giving into the Dark Side while a prisoner of the Bando Gora. You, none of you have any moral high ground to stand on here, regardless of your so-called knowledge of the Force, history of your Order."

"Regardless of her abilities, Padawan Secura sent on that mission should never have been," Yoda said looking around at the other masters. "To discover the information we needed, other ways found they could have been."

"How will we make this right?" Mace asked, shaking his head, looking weary in a way that should have been foreign to the man. "We can apologize as often as we like, we can say it won't happen again, but…"

"There is one way," Fay said quietly, moving up around Harry on his other side to stand by Lily, looking all around them. "All of you, as members of this council need to realize what kind of threats your members face while on missions, especially missions like the one you sent Aayla on. There is a way you can in fact learn this as if you were there. I told you all about runes, and what Lily and I have been doing with them. She told me once about an artifact called a pensieve, which could be used to let people view an individual's memory as if they were watching them in real time."

Lily explained, her eyes still hard as they looked around them. "Essentially the original user will fill the pensieve up with his memory. On my old world they would actually remove the memory from their head in a sort of silvery substance and place it in a bowl. For some reason that doesn't work here." The three of them had practiced this before leaving Serenno, so they knew how it worked and how to modify the process from the original. "However if Aayla touches the bowl and concentrates on the memory, other people will be able to view the memory from her point of view."

At a gesture from Master Fay, Quinlan set the large stone bowl he'd been carrying down in the center of the room. More than a few of the Masters looked at it askance, wondering how this small stone bowl could do what Lily had said it could. A few others, like Yaddle and Ranicisis, were looking concerned about the idea of runes, which sounded a bit like some of the things the Sith had been able to do in the first few wars against them. Though of course given the disjointed nature of records from before the loss of Ossus, they couldn't be certain of even that, it was mainly rumors and a few precious holocrons which told the Jedi Order about anything from that time period.

Aayla moved forward as Harry moved back, standing now where he had been with the pensieve in front of her and Fay and Lily beside her supportively. With a single sigh Aayla concentrated, bringing up the memory of her ordeal from the moment the gas had begun to creep into the slave's quarters then up to the moment Harry's presence had flooded her mind. From her fingertips there emanated a yellow color which began to seep into the water of the bowl, causing it to glow. In Lily's home dimension it would have been silver and made of the actual substance of the memory, but here the water was merely the medium, though she had no idea about why the memory was colored yellow here.

Before anyone else could more Yoda hopped down from his chair, moving forward slowly as he looked at the silvery material in the bowl. "Stick a finger in the water, do I?"

"Master Yoda?" Aayla said, almost reaching forward with her other hand to push him away. "You weren't part of…"

Yoda just looked at her, and Aayla stilled, her arm falling back to her side. "Grandmaster I am. Made this decision I did not, but responsibility mine is still." Master Giiett too moved forward despite also not having been involved in that decision as did Plo Koon a second after his friend.

With that example to live up to the other masters all moved forward as well, sticking their fingers into the yellow water as one. Then they were somewhere else as:

Aayla/the various masters groggily became aware of the world around her/them, her/their eyes fluttering in their sockets and she/they groaned, muttering in standard, "What the heck hit me?" The Jedi Masters felt ill, sick to their stomachs, and weak, weaker than any of them could ever remember, their minds suddenly unable to focus.

"Nothing yet, I wanted you awake for this," said a sinister voice, though at first Aayla/the council master could not place where she/they had heard it before. Then Bib Fortuna leered town at her, and Aayla suddenly realized that she was naked, and that she was tied down to a bed of some kind.

Horrified shock resounded through the masters, especially the women, and more than one tried to reach out to the Force as Aayla did, But she/they couldn't, Aayla's mind, who they were now suck in too groggy. The drugs in her system inhibiting her ability to concentrate, and they couldn't even bring up the strength to purge them. But unlike Aayla's emotions at first, the masters had no buffer to the emotions now cascading through them at being so helpless. Even the aliens like Yaddle and Yoda knew something bad was going on here, and they were powerless to stop it.

A medical droid hovered behind Bib, and he laughed evilly. "You were made my dear. You and your Master are both dead now, it's just a matter of time. Of course, if you make it worth my while, I might be persuaded to let you live a little longer…" he said leering down at Aayla's form, sending another paroxysm through the masters who were now riding through the memory.

Above their/Aayla's body the one she had recognized as Bib Fortuna sighed. "Pity, that gas seems to have a longer effect on Twi'leks than it would humans, but oh well, I'll still have my fun. First however we'll have to give you another injection just to make sure you stay… compliant. And another one to take that a little further. You'll enjoy yourself my dear, whether you want to or not…"

As the droid came towards her/them, the needle like a spear jutting into their soul, the masters all felt the despair, the hopelessness, welling up within Aayla. Yet like her, they couldn't do anything, merely riding along, as the memory continued.

But then there was another mind there, in the original memory rather than joining the passengers and they felt, for just a brief moment, what Aayla felt. **Harry** was there, his arms around her mentally, their connection flaring in her/their head as he reached through it. Somehow the young man used that connection to take control of Aayla's body, pushing her own Force powers through her body in the techniques needed to purge her body of the drug. "Aayla! I'm here!"

More than one of the High Council members fell to their knees as they came out of the pensieve, shaking and shaken to their cores by the helplessness of it, the up-rushing fear and the sudden explosive joy and hope at the end. It made the Trial of Spirit seem like a children's first trip to a haunted house in comparison.

Mace did not. He wobbled, but he remained standing, turning like he was on a turn stile towards Aayla, before slowly sinking to his knees, bending his head to touch the ground. "I had no idea." He said honestly, his voice a hoarse caricature of its normal timbre. "I had no idea that it would feel like that, I, this is beyond…"

To his side Master Gallia also stepped forward as she pushed herself off her feet, while Master Billaba was so distraught she had rushed past the others, heading toward the open sides of the council chamber in order to throw up over the edge of it. Some of those who had not been directly involved in the decision making were somewhat better off, like Master Koon, Giiett, Piell and Ranicisis. Tiin, Pouf and Koth were all reeling, shocked to the point they couldn't get off their knees despite not having been involved in the original decision to send Aayla on that mission.

While Billaba was busy throwing up Adi looked around at her fellows, her face at least four shades paler than it normally was. "I, I am stepping down from this august body. I cannot in good conscience remain a part of it after being involved in such a, such a horrible mistake. Indeed, it calls into question several other missions we have assigned to various knights and masters in the past. If they could go wrong so badly..."

To everyone's surprise Aayla shook her head sternly. "That doesn't make me feel any better Master. The apology does, as does knowing that you know what I went through. But now that you do, stay on the council and make sure the same thing doesn't happen again to some other padawan who doesn't have a Force bonded boyfriend who can ride to the rescue."

"Agreed," said the other really short Master, the one who looked sort of like Yoda with at least an extra foot of height and a far powerful looking body. Harry hadn't seen that species before, but this guy looked like a warrior, and he threw off his the feeling evoked from the memory quickly while everyone else joined into a sort of relieved chuckle at Aayla's quip.

"Undercover work is always dangerous, but we need to realize what kind of opposition any Jedi knight could run into at any given moment. This time, we were very, **very** lucky. We cannot expect to be lucky again, but we need again to realize what can happen, and take part in it." He sighed shaking his head. "We Jedi often forget that male and female do indeed matter beyond these walls, but we cannot afford to do so."

For a moment, the Council room was silent beyond the nodding of heads as everyone tried to figure out where to go from here, slowly returning to their chairs, shattered internally by two experiences none of them had ever considered, both the horrible molestation and that blazing, transcendent moment when Harry's mental presence arrived. Needless to say after that experience no one was willing to question Harry and Aayla's bond further. Harry's recreation of Force Light, something Master Yaddle had been working towards for months, and his saving Aayla from that fate put paid to that.

"You will not stay here on in the temple will you?" Mace asked at last, looking at Master Fay and Harry and the Force Ghost.

"We cannot. Our presence still causes a disaster if we stay here too long, even with Harry hidden under the best Force cloak imaginable. I believe the Senate somehow finds out about his abilities and fear and concern and grasping avarice do the rest." Fay shrugged unwilling even now to say that the response to his abilities even from within the Order was still a concern. She could see it still in the faces of Master Pouf and Master Koth, despite their being shaken from the memories Aayla had shared. "Master Dooku has taken him on as a lightsaber student, and we will stay on Serenno for a time."

"Since we arrived there, beyond the…" Fay paused… "Incident I suppose you could call it, With Aayla I have not felt the pull of the Force taking me away. I think I'm doing precisely what the Force wants me to, preparing Harry further for his own future."

"If that is the case, do you believe him to be the Chosen One?" asked Master Pouf, somewhat sarcastically if still shakily.

"No, I do not believe in that prophecy," Fay replied with a shake of her head. "In fact I'm rather worried about Masters who do. We Jedi are all too concerned with the idea of balance instead of thinking about the right thing to do. And as Harry said earlier, we have shut ourselves out from emotions for fear of the Dark that we have shut out the Light as well."

"While I will no longer question your bond padawans I still do not know if I can agree with that," Mace said shaking his head. "Balance is what we should always seek, in ourselves and the Force at large. Balance has served the Order for over a thousand years, most of them peaceful. I realize we are entering a time of turmoil, but that is no reason to throw off all of our traditions. I will allow that in some cases like yours looking to the Light alone is the way forward, but it cannot be that was for the Order as a whole."

"These runes," said another Master, looking down at the bowl. "How difficult would it be to start students training on them?"

"Somewhat hard," Lily said shrugging her shoulders. "Since I refuse to stay here either. However anyone can use this pensieve, and I imagine it would be more useful here among you all than with us. I will warn you though I don't think that non-Force users could use it, if you were thinking of trying to use it in criminal cases or something."

"Useful it will be yes. Yet surely, written notes about specific runes or something you have?" Master Yaddle asked plaintively, her long ears quivering eagerly. "Use them to begin our own training we could."

"Sorry, no," Fay said sympathetically, watching as Yaddle's ears drooped almost down to her skull. "I would also be very leery of experimenting with them at all. Some of the mistakes Lily and I ran into could have been life threatening, explosive, or both had we not taken as many precautions as we have."

Seeing the crestfallen expressions on the little green alien and others Lily decided to bend somewhat. They had after all won literally every point they had come here intending to fight for either. "I would be willing to train Knight Ti and the others who were on the Explorer or someone they chose, so long as they earned my trust first. The same concern with the Force techniques we've shared, that of feeding arrogance and a need to use them for personal gain, applies to runes too after all."

That seemed to cheer the masters up, and more than one of them fired questions about the techniques at Harry and the others. Lily and Fay answered many of them, but subtly began to push Harry and Aayla to answer them after a time. During this it was decided that while Harry and Aayla would remain together and on Serenno, Quinlan might well be called away at times to take missions with his former master. His abilities at Force Cloak made him one of the best in the Order for undercover missions.

The conversation continued for another hour or so, until the masters started to run out of questions. Then Harry asked a question of his own. "By the way, what's going to happen to Anakin Skywalker? He seemed an ok kid when we were on Tatooine."

Yoda sighed, his ears twitching as more than one master there blinked in surprise at the idea of the most powerful Force user found by the Order in centuries being described in such lukewarm terms. Of course none of them knew that Harry was just as powerful, perhaps even more so when he was first found.

"Trained he will be, Master Jinn already intending to take him as padawan. But reservations I have. There is anger in him, arrogance too. Younger than either of you to he was when found, but anger in you, not so much there was."

 _Hate or arrogance, have them you do not either_ , he thought, staring at Harry. Oh, Harry had the ability to hate within him, Yoda had seen that brief flash in his eyes as Aayla must have pointed out the Masters who had given Aayla her mission when they entered the room. But despite having more reason to be arrogant than most, Harry wasn't, and it would take something special for him to make the jump from righteous anger to flat-out anger.

And given the fact Harry didn't hate the Dursleys, for what they had done to him when he lived with them Yoda doubted Harry could actually hate anyone. The two of them had talked about the Dursleys and other things during Yoda's time spent on the _Explorer_. Harry was not the first abused child to be allowed into the Order, nor the first Yoda had dealt with. He knew what questions to ask, what to look out for to make certain the youth was no more likely to fall to the Dark Side than anyone else.

Yes, Harry had anger within him and some buttons that no one in their right mind would push. But that was normal for a child of his background, and Harry's sheer joy at having his mother with him washed out much of the anger Yoda had been worried about. And while Harry loathed the Dursleys and anyone who would abuse a child, he did not hate them, or wish to see them treated as he had been.

Anakin hated slavers of all sorts, and was very much in favor of an eye for an eye philosophy of dealing with them. He also had an arrogance in him because of how well he could already use the Force without formal training, which had not been helped by Qui-Gon already starting his instruction.

After that the meeting broke up, and Harry and Aayla went in search of Zule and the rest of their friends. Most of them had already turned in for the night however, leaving Zule, Wulo and two others Kass Todd and Mak Lotor were awake. Zule was still awake because she and Master Glaive were due to leave on another mission in an hour, while Wulo was still awake because he was to report to Master Yoda, who had formally taken him on as padawan, on the results of his meditation. The other two were simply night owls, not needing nearly as much sleep as most needed.

When told about what had almost happened to Aayla, the others were sad while Zule was angry that her friend had nearly gone through such a horrifying experience. Aayla talked her down, though Zule then asked Harry if he would come and saver her if she was ever in trouble like that, to which Harry replied in the affirmative as if the answer was obvious, something that brought a flush to the half-Falleen's face and won a laugh from Aayla. They spent about an hour talking to them before Fay decided they needed to leave, something telling her they had to leave soon or else Harry's presence would no longer be hidden.

At the same time, they nearly ran into Anakin, Master Windu, Master Jinn and Padawan Kenobi, who the two youngsters hadn't met before. They were waiting in the main hall, talking quietly while a _Consular_ class diplomatic frigate was being prepared for their journey to Naboo by a few knights and the queen of Naboo's guards.

With them also stood several maids dressed in Naboo's version of a maid uniform along with several dozen maids and the queen of Naboo, dressed in formal attire.

Zule was still exchanging stories with Harry and she and Aayla traded snickers at the sight of the Nabooan queen's attire. "Oh, my word, who in the universe came up with that getup?"

The queen heard them, and moved over in their direction, a smirk on her face which upset her pasty white makeup. Behind her Anakin made to follow only to stop at a question from Master Windu about his Force abilities and how they related to his apparent history of pod racing a subject that was near and dear to his hear.

"I think it was the same person who thought up the idea of the ruling monarch requiring musical accompaniment to enter a room. Luckily I've at least done away with that. How are you two? Did you convince the Order?" A familiar voice asked from underneath the makeup.

"We did quite well Padme," Aayla said, still snickering at the other girl's getup becoming serious. "We just arrived this afternoon, and we've been in… discussions with the High Council since, so we haven't heard anything since the report that you had pushed for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum."

"Did you figure out my identity yourself, or did one of the Jedi masters tell you?" Padme asked, almost pouting which segued into a wan smile when Harry indicated that Fay had told them. She, Lily and Quinlan stood elsewhere in the hall, letting the children, and now the queen, speak alone for a time. "Well at least my disguise fooled everyone but the Jedi. Ah well."

She went on more seriously. "As for my asking for a vote of no confidence, as the reigning monarch of a member planet it was within my right in times of crisis to do so and it was pointed out to me that Valorum has become rather a lame kaddu of late, with no real power base in the Senate any longer beyond a few friends who are willing to listen to him."

"Actually everyone is willing to listen to him talk, but no one is willing to actually follow him anymore." Zule said, shaking her head. "I never liked Valorum, he has a weak chin."

"Not the most in depth political analysis there but I suppose his chin could be a sign of his lack of political power," Padme said tartly, looking over at the slightly older girl. Aayla introduced the two and Padme nodded to Zule before gesturing over to Obi-Wan and the others. "I am afraid however that the Senate's debate on who to replace Valorum is not moving quickly enough to save my people. We received several messages from my chief advisor about thousands of my people being rounded up and taken off world, or killed for minor infractions. So the Jedi Order has been forced to step in."

Harry nodded slowly, frowning. "Not to disparage what is happening to your people Padme, but why did you think that the Senate would suddenly be willing to move faster if you removed Valorum? Surely the chaos of that move will only slow any response." Fay had given Harry a very good grounding in politics and law, so such things seemed obvious to him.

"I realized that. But any response, no matter how slow is preferable to none at all and Senator Palpatine is certain the next chancellor will be someone we can work with. At present I must admit to be grasping at straws." Padme sighed, weighed down by more than just the physical encumbrance of her formal attire. "We have a plan, one I hope will succeed, but it is a bit of a gamble too I must admit to being thankful that the Order decided to send Master Windu along with Master Jinn and padawan Kenobi."

Master Windu had decided to come along this mission for two reasons: One, he had felt the need to do so, to get out of the temple and away from his role as Master of the Order after the debacle with Aayla's mission. And two, he really wanted to just hit something right now, and none of the other masters could argue with him.

Shaking her head Padme changed the subject. While she might have been willing to ask for Harry and Aayla help, after hearing about how they, Dooku and Fay had stormed Jabba's castle she knew they were more dangerous than their ages suggested, with Master Windu coming along she felt they had the martial side of things covered. And master Fay's famous abilities would be unnecessary until after she freed her planet. "Where will you go from here?"

"Back to Serenno to keep training under Master Dooku," Aayla replied, while Zule pouted, shaking her head. She wasn't jealous of the opportunity Harry and Aayla were being given, such a thing would be very much against the Jedi Code. But she could admit to some irritation that they were leaving so soon and that it might well be a while before she saw them again.

"Padme, our ship is ready," Obi-Wan said from behind the queen, nodding a greeting to the three younger padawans. He had seen Aayla and Zule around, and had even taken a few lessons on Force Shielding from Aayla, so knew them both. The green-eyed boy however was new, though he wore the robe and had the padawan's braid.

Padme nodded, looking at her friends, remembering the pleasant evening and morning they had spent together on Tatooine, a moment of happiness on a bleak world at a bleak time. "Well, this is where we part ways then. Farewell you two, or as you Jedi put it, may the Force be with you."

Aayla and Harry both moved forward, taking turns to hug the slightly younger (if currently far bulkier) girl, who flushed under her pasty white makeup, unused to such physical displays between acquaintances. "May the Force be with You Padme, and stay in touch yeah," Harry asked, leaning back to wink at the girl before turning away to join his own party. He never noticed Anakin staring at him, or Padme flushing as her eyes followed him and Aayla as they walked away.

After a final farewell to Zule, the two youngsters left the Temple with their masters and Padme's party, separating to enter their respective ships as Lily slipped out through the wall after saying farewell to Zule. The two ships lifted off one after another, exiting through the planetary shield and moving through the space lanes and out to the hyperspace jump coordinates together. There they went their separate ways, jumping to hyperspace in different directions.

 **OOOOOOO**

At the same time that Harry and company were with the High Council, Sidious nee Senator Sheev Palpatine of Naboo was busy with the Senate, gathering the votes he would need while also giving orders to the opposition via several dozen cutouts. His public persona needed to be surprised by events after all, yet manifestly have the backing to move to aid his planet, eventually anyway. Not until a few Jedi died.

At the same time Plagueis was very carefully keeping watch on the Jedi Temple. The Vergence, a young boy by the feel of the mind, was there. Plagueis hadn't cared at all about the gender the vergence would become only the fact that he had been able to create it in the first place. With his senses and ability to use the Veil watching the boy even in the temple was doable if very difficult. He had to keep any Jedi from feeling his presence and see past all the interfering auras to the one he was most interested in, though again thanks to the Veil the first was far easier than the second.

He had of course felt Fay's arrival, as well as her hangers on, Jedi who did not matter a whit in comparison to her power and sheer ability. Of all the Jedi who were not direct physical threats, Fay was the most dangerous in terms of the impact they could have to the Great Plan. She had already set back several smaller portions of the plan a few times, and Fay's particular soft touch, iron fist in a velvet glove approach was a worrisome example which could not be allowed to spread less the Jedi Order gain too much public support for the Great Plan to succeed. Her Force presence was like that of Yoda himself, but he lacked the thing that made her more dangerous: Yoda was predictable, Fay was not.

That evening Sidious and Plagueis met up in the latter's laboratory as the older Sith Lord sat in his throne and the younger man sat on another, albeit smaller, chair. Though Plagueis considered them near equals, the key word between Sith was the 'near' in that sentence. The younger man had just finished his report on the day's events and Plagueis allowed himself to nod slightly in approval. "And thus the next phase of the plan will go off without a hitch, good. Well done my apprentice, very well done indeed. You make the Senate dance to your tune far easier than I could ever manage."

"Thank you master," Sidious replied, though the word stuck in his throat as it always did these days. But it was not time just yet, no. "And the Jedi? I thought I felt the arrival of that busybody **bitch** Fay." The term came easily to Sidious, he loathed Fay with every fiber of his being, she represented the best and worst of the Jedi Order in his opinion, setting aside what her example could mean for the Great Plan. He longed for the day where the Veil was strong enough to fool even her senses and would let them lead Fay to her death.

"You did, and her aura made an already difficult task near impossible. Have you any further information on why she is involved with Dooku and why the two of them were on Tatooine? I checked our sources this morning but they hadn't run down any of Jabba's former enforcers yet." Plagueis replied, already sending out a Force Pull towards a nearby droid, which approached with a hologram globe connected to their computer network.

"No master, I haven't checked since before that young fool Padme arrived." The two Sith were silent as Plagueis inputted the commands to bring up the reports from their underworld spies. Perusing the information they both scowled angrily in their hoods, up even here in the comforting darkness of Plagueis' laboratory cum throne room. "A simple rescue mission? Fay felt these other Jedi's distress, and came with Dooku to rescue them? A last gasp of the Light side of the Force to cause events to go in its favor then."

Plagueis frowned, thinking about that information then about what he had felt during the day as he observed the Jedi Temple. "You might be missing the point apprentice. Fay has a padawan now, when we knew before this that she refused to take one. We have new techniques appearing within the Order with no clear source for them. The Force Shield alone has saved many a Jedi's life over the past few years, not least of which Master Giiett of the council during the Yinchorri uprising we instigated. No, there is something else going on here."

"You think Fay is the source of these new abilities? The Stunning and Shield techniques do seem like powers she could have rediscovered. And the Order could have assigned her a padawan to see if they could be passed on before letting her teach this Clan Saa as a larger test group." Sidious mused. Like most of the Jedi Order the idea of rediscovering old knowledge was more palatable to think than the idea someone could create new ones to the Sith.

"Perhaps…" Plagueis frowned, as he recalled the Light Side phenomenon from years before. Yet it had disappeared into the greater Force, so well he could no longer remember what it was. It could well have been something Fay had discovered and Tholme had helped transport. Yes, that made sense, and Fay was extremely hard to track from a distance, yes…

Yet even as he thought that, an unusual seed of doubt grew within Plagueis for a moment before he shook it off. "In any case, she derailed your assassin's first attempt to kill Jinn, and our plans for Dooku will not occur now. I can still see him causing a schism in the Order, but he will not serve as the large scale threat we need for the end game of the Great Plan."

"I have several other Jedi who might serve master, never fear. You know the one whom I speak of."

"Yes, he will do nicely. He is well liked and respected among the Core Worlds and out to the Inner Rim. Indeed, with him at the helm the war might become far more general than if we went with our original plan with Dooku at the helm." Plagueis mused. "And I think that Sifo-Dyas can still serve. Regardless of the new abilities the Jedi have, Dyas inability to use precognition any longer has made him far more susceptible to suggestion than the man was 20 years ago. I will approach him after the Naboo incident is done with."

"Doing away with Dyas afterward will prove difficult," Sidious warned. "My pawn might not yet be primed by the time it is necessary. Better to use another cutout and come up with another way to make our new 'ally' prove himself in some other fashion."

"Agreed. I will do that myself I think however, I have already placed a tracker on his ship, and once he has commissioned the work myself and Jango Fett will do well enough to get rid of him. Jango's hatred of the Jedi make him easily manipulated despite his strong mind." Plagueis paused, thinking, his Senses spreading out into the Veil for a moment, feeling the flow of it and the future before speaking again, as if to himself. "Yes, the Jedi are becoming worried, now we make them paranoid, reactionary. Such people will be easily manipulated, and will cause trouble for themselves all on their own. Yes, it is time for your assassin to reveal himself."

The Muun looked up then his eyes locking on his apprentice's. "Qui-Gon Jinn must die. He is the foremost proponent of the Living Force theory, and that theory would let the Jedi regain the kind of flexibility that would let them out of the trap our Rule of Two has been working towards since our pawns put the Ruusan Reformation in place."

"However, there is a complication. Mace Windu was sent along with Jinn for some reason I cannot fathom. It has something to do with Fay's presence, something she showed the High Council. With all their auras interfering I could not see what, but he will be with Jinn, his apprentice and the vergence on Naboo."

"Why is the Order allowing the vergence to go with them? That seems unlike the Jedi Order to place such a young tool in danger." Sidious asked.

"Jinn is taking the vergence along. I sense he feels it might be the Order's Chosen One. As if balance would serve them," Plagueis allowed a small sneer onto his normally blank face before going on. "But Windu is a threat, one your assassin might not be able to handle. He needs to stay away from him. And if he could somehow recover the vergence that would be excellent. Though having him in the temple where we can influence him is good enough for now I suppose given his age."

"I had already anticipated further trouble with Jinn's execution, but I will make certain Maul understands and has enough resources on hand to deal with Windu as well my master," Sidious replied, bowing from his chair before standing and leaving the chamber.

 **OOOOOOO**

The mission to Naboo had gone well, if not the way Mace would have preferred. While he respected Qui-Gon's ability with the Force and his pragmatic view of the universe, his ability to simply let events happen was bizarre to Mace. Yet given what had happened with Aayla, Mace was beginning to question his own opinions in a way that he would never have before. So when Padme had decided to go to the Gungans, like Jinn, Mace went with it. The overall strategy was decent enough and the Gungan's defensive position in the swamps had made Windu happier than he had previously been about possibly sacrificing such a number of sentients on what amounted to a decoy mission.

But then the infiltration force had started to run into problems the moment they entered the palace. Finding traps with the Force was relatively easy for the two Masters given they were on alert as they were, but finding a way into the palace without tripping an alarm was far harder given the fact Padme had insisted she come along, and of course captain Panaka had demanded he and her guards come too. Mace would have given the young queen a dressing down that made her ears ring for that bit of idiocy, but Jinn had reasoned that she might be helpful.

And then Jinn had decided to bring Anakin along too. There at least Mace could also feel the Force saying they needed Anakin along, and reasoned it was for his piloting skills. Watching Jinn attempt to explain this to Padme, who insisted on leaving 'the little boy' behind was amusing, as was the number of faces Anakin made at Padme's back at her apparent betrayal. The boy would need much training to stop letting his emotions dictate his actions, that was certain.

To Windu's surprise, her knowledge of the palace, and her retinal scan, did. Now they were passing through the connecting terminal between an outlying energy plant and the temple, moving toward the palace unseen and Mace decided he needed, for the second time in as many days, to apologize. "I have to apologize your highness, I did not honestly think your knowledge of the palace would be needed. But the number of traps and the way they are arrayed would have made our attempts to enter the palace unseen near to impossible."

"That is fine Master Windu, we're all learning things lately, believe me." Padme replied, her mind on other things. She was speaking about how she had learned that slavery was so prevalent in the Outer Rim and how it felt to be powerless to protect her people, though Mace didn't know that.

He still nodded however, then twitched around, his lightsaber activating between one breath and the next, the snap hiss of the plasma blade appearing just barely beating out the sound of the blaster bolt hitting it. "Ambush, droids incoming," the Master of the Order intoned and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan moved forward to join him.

Rolling along the floor towards them came four droidekas. These were expensive droids based around a spherical chassis and head which the droid pulled in as it rolled around, along with two arms with much the same ability and two lasers embedded into each arm. It also had a personal shield, hence the things expense.

Padme's guards immediately opened up firing around the three Jedi, but the droidekas shields popped on, absorbing the bolts before returning fire. The Jedi in turn deflected their blasts, and Qui-Gon shook his head. "The time for stealth has passed I fear. Padme, where are we in relation to our targets?"

The targets in question being her thrown room, which Nute Gunray, Viceroy of the Trade Federation, had taken over, and the palaces prison cells. The majority of the planet's starfighter pilots were apparently being kept there. Indeed, despite the number of reports Padme had seen to the contrary, the number of deaths and atrocities committed on her people had been noticeably few. The amount of personal property stolen was another story.

Looking around Padme determined where they were and pointed straight up and then to the side and forward. "We've already reached the palace's basement levels, so the throne room is up a few levels from here, the prison cells will be in the west wing of the palace a level above us."

"Very well. I will draw as much of the defenders attention down on me as I may, to allow you both to move as quickly as possible. Your tasks will be to avoid combat from here on. Qui-Gon, take the queen and find Gunray. Obi-Wan, take Anakin and a few of the queen's guards with you, free the pilots and get them up into space. Anakin, you know what you have to do." Mace stated.

Anakin gulped but nodded. After having snuck away from the temple and boarding the ship bound for Naboo he had convinced Master Jinn the Force wanted him here, and with his help had convinced the far more intimidating Master Windu. But the Jedi in turn had felt he was here for his piloting skills, and he couldn't argue with them despite a desire to aid Padme however he could. "Yes Master Windu."

"Good, now off with you." At that Obi-Wan looked at Qui-Gon, who nodded to state he agreed with Mace's order. Obi-Wan turned and, letting the two masters take up his portion of the defense he began to cut a way through the wall and the electronics beyond it. From there he cut upwards, and the guards and Anakin followed.

An instant later Qui-Gon too fell back, allowing Mace to see to the now smaller group's defense on his own. One of the droidekas rolled to close, and Mace quickly reached out with his hand grasping it at it. That close the thing's energy shield was no match for the Force, and his Force Crush, shattered it's cylindrical body.

"Have fun Master Windu." With that Qui-Gon leaped up, cutting into the ceiling as below him Padme and the others retreated slightly. The slab of flooring fell, as the human Jedi master rolled aside, before turning nimbly, leaping up into the space revealed.

Turning he gestured down to the others, and Padme found herself slowly being pulled up into the hole by an unseen hand. Padme squeaked once before clamping her lips closed, and Qui-Gon set her aside. Over the next few moments he pulled her remaining guards, two of her maids and three of Panaka's men, up with him, shaking his head at the effort.

Mace looked up at them, nodded once then leaped backwards over the slab of ceiling Qui-Gon had cut. Pulling it up with his own Force Pull he hurled it forward along the ground of the corridor. The droidekas rolled back desperately but were too slow and their shields couldn't withstand being crushed between the slab of stone flooring and the far wall. With that done Mace raced along the same corridor, his lightsaber still activated as he looked for more trouble to cause, running into and through several dozen more patrols, pulling all the attention of the palace's defenders on him.

Qui-Gon, Padme and their party found themselves in what looked like a menial's bedroom, and they remained there for a time as Qui-Gon recovered from his exertions and used his Force senses to see if there were any sentients nearby. Finding droids was an order of magnitude harder but they were also noisier generally speaking when they moved, so he could enhance his physical senses and find them that way.

After about five minutes he nodded, reactivating his lightsaber. "Straight up you said?"

"I would be rather irritated at this damage to my own palace Master Jinn, but I suppose given the alternative I won't complain," Padme quipped, watching as the Jedi went to work once more. Again, the Jedi cut out a slab of the upper story's floor, then caught it with the Force, pushing it upwards instead of letting it fall, since that would have made a noise. With that, the guards were able to lift the two maids and Padme up, then the maids in turn pulled each man up before Qui-Gon leaped through the hole to land neatly beside them.

In this manner they made their way through the palace. Several times they stopped as the noise of combat reached them echoing through the eerily empty palace as Mace did his work, pulling all the defenders attention down on him. Panaka had shut down and slagged the control grid for the palace's security cameras before they had escaped, and replacing that would take weeks. Now that move proved it's worth, allowing them, in conjunction with Mace's assault to pass unseen.

Panaka took the lead as they arrived on the same level as the queen's throne room, moving once again through the corridors. Because of this, the captain of the palace guard was the first to die.

As the man passed a small service alcove a lightsaber activated with a sizzle hiss searing through his body and sending his corpse to the ground in two halves even as Qui-Gon, warned through the Force shouted "Panaka watch out!"

The man's killer stepped over his body, throwing a cloak off his body to reveal a Zabrak, his face covered by red and black tattoos around yellow slits for eyes. The yellow eyes were the sign of someone who had given themselves entirely to the Dark Side, though given the fact the being ahead of Qui-Gon had allowed his Force Stealth to fall that was not actually necessary. In the Zabrak's hand was a black metal long-shafted lightsaber hilt. From the end of it glowed the red plasma blade he had just used to cut Panaka in half, then as he held it crossways in front of him with one hand, from the other end another beam of crimson power extended.

"Fall back!" Qui-Gon ordered Padme. "Find another way around to the Viceroy, this foe is beyond you."

"Wh-what is he?" Padme asked, shocked by the sudden death of her guard captain.

"I don't know, but I can't defend you and deal with him at the same time, **move** **!** "

Padme nodded, and the group pulled back down the corridor, eventually finding a window and making their way out onto the terraces, leaping from one to the next to their target. But Qui-Gon had no time to worry about such thing because a second after they had moved the Zabrak attacked, his assault battering Qui-Gon backwards slashing out with speed and power that was almost beyond the older mans' ability to block. Their lightsabers sparked and spanged against one another as they fought in the corridor of the palace.

Qui-Gon was a practitioner of form 4, Ataru, which emphasized movement, leaps and attacking from all angles. Here in the corridor however he was stymied. He could cut through the walls yes, and did so with every swing, but that didn't mean he could create more space. He was caught flatfooted, off-balance. Only his Force Precognition and the new Force Shield technique saved him. The shield popped into place twice, keeping his opponent from gutting him, yet he could feel the move's drain on his resources, already strained from the telekinesis he'd used that day.

But his opponent could also use Force Precognition. In layman's terms, when Jedi battled it was often part physical, part mental, the equivalent of dueling a fencer while also playing chess. Maul was a master at both, exceeding Jinn's abilities slightly. Moreover, he could feel it, his opponent's exhaustion, his consternation. _I can beat this Jedi! I can send him to join the others I have killed!_

Desperately Qui-Gon used the Force to wrench a few doors into his opponent's way, leaping up and over his head as the Zabrak cut them down bouncing off the ceiling and down the corridor in the direction the attacker had come from. As he had hoped it opened up into a wider area, a meeting place between four corridors and a wide stairway. The Zabrak followed him, but Qui-Gon turned and attacked ferociously, leaping this way and that, attacking from any angle he could at any target he could, limbs, hands, legs or back.

The Zabrak's odd weapon however matched any of his assaults and his Force Precognition let him keep up even with this assault. The Zabrak turned with him, cutting at him, forcing Qui-Gon to defend himself midair, the hiss and thrum of lightsaber once again resounding in the air. Again and again the Zabrak turned or matched Jinn's leaps with his own coming in at another angle or attacking from above, forcing Jinn to remain stationary then catching him with another blow before Jinn could move once more.

This in turn made Jinn fall back on his Force Shield more often his body tiring out around him and his Force ability quickly following. Each time he did it was weaker, the shield beginning to flicker. As he was falling back into a roll however Qui-Gon thought he saw a chance.

Gathering what remained of his strength he pushed forward harder, pressing the Zabrak down onto the stairway, hoping to disrupt his footwork and stance. Lashing out first with a Force Push to take his opponent off balance Qui-Gon pressed in, aiming a blow to take him in the upper body.

His Force Push however was simply batted aside, and Qui-Gon found his lightsaber blocked, the blade carried up out of position. Before he could use the momentum of that attack to turn and bring his lightsaber around again, the second lightsaber blade came up cutting into his side. His desperate Force Shield flared out a bare second into the lightsaber's strike against his side, Qui-Gon's exhaustion costing him.

The blow continued unabated to cut the Jedi Master's arm off from just below the pectoral up to nearly the neck, searing through his flesh. As the arm which had been holding his lightsaber flew away Qui-Gon Jinn fell without a sound, never even seeing the blow which swung down, decapitating him.

 **OOOOOOO**

Though separated by nearly a quarter mile of palace, Obi-Wan still felt his master's death through the Force as did Windu. But unlike Obi-Wan, Mace also felt the individual who had killed Qui-Gon Jinn. _A Dark Side user, here, why? This is bizarre, the first Dark Side user seen in more than two hundred years, and no warning about it unlike that time when it was a Jedi who had fallen into the Dark Side. Suddenly I have to question the real reasons behind the Trade Federation's actions here._

 _But for now, which target would the Dark Side user go for?_ _The queen, who is no doubt closer, or the Jedi apprentice freeing the starfighter pilots?_ Reaching out subtly to the ForceMace tried to get some inspiration on which decision to go for, only to not sense anything.

Sighing Windu covered himself in the best mixed Force Cloak and Stealth he could manage and disappeared into the background of the palace, thinking hard. Deciding the Zabrak would go for the queen, that making more sense than a Dark Side user randomly appearing here to attack three Jedi, Mace raced in that direction. He ran into several more droidekas, slowing him somewhat, but he was nearly there when the Dark Side user once again struck. But not at the queen as Mace had thought was the most logical, but at Obi-Wan, forcing Mace to turn around, moving even faster now as he cursed his blindness.

 **OOOOOOO**

Obi-Wan skidded to a halt pushing Anakin towards one of the fighters, small starfighters built here on Naboo built along the same sort of sleek design type as Padme's yacht only smaller and better armed. Turning he stared at the Dark Side user who had just walked into the hanger bay. "Go Anakin!"

Next to him Anakin stared in the Zabrak's direction for a brief moment, and Obi-Wan wondered if he too had felt Qui-Gon Jinn's death through the Force. Regardless, the boy swiftly obeyed as Obi-Wan turned his lightsaber on, racing towards the Zabrak, who in turn ignited a strange double-bladed lightsaber and charged to meet him.

The two met in the center of the bay as around them the last few starfighters rocketed up into space heading to attack one of the two Lucre-Hulk class mother ships, the one controlling the droid army on the ground at present. Not that either combatant cared, their lightsabers sizzling and slashing at one another as their Force Precognition too reached out.

At first Obi-Wan leaped around, trying to come at his opponent from as many directions at once, much like his master would have. Jinn had taught him a lot of Ataru over the years they had been together, not because he felt Obi-Wan was suited for it, but because that was Jinn's own style, and he didn't have enough understanding of the other forms to teach them beyond a rudimentary level.

This proved to be a mistake. The opponent's double-bladed lightsaber gave him an amazing level of flexibility, able to attack and defend far faster than any opponent Obi Wan had ever faced before in training or in real life. Three barely dodged assaults later, Obi-Wan gambled for a brief moment. He conjured up a Force Shield to block an attack before ducking under the other blow and kicking out hard, sending the Zabrak backwards. His enemy rolled with it, coming up several meters away and rushing forward once more.

But instead of pressing his fleeting advantage, Obi-Wan swiftly centered himself in the Force, holding his lightsaber down at an angle towards the floor. When the Zabrak attacked Obi-Wan flowed into Form 3, Soresu. It was a defensive style, which used the opponent's moves to power that defense. It never attacked outright, concentrating the user's physical style and Force Precognition on blocking or deflecting the opponent's attacks in an effort to outlast him until your opponent made a mistake then riposting. It was a style made solely to defend, a stance anathema to most Dark Side users.

Here the style quickly went to work, nearly infuriating Maul to distraction as he leaped and slashed in from every direction, trying to overcome Obi-Wan's defense. Even his better skill at Force Precognition failed at this change, Obi-Wan's own skill in that ability acting like a fulcrum in a lever, forcing Maul's power away. However riding high on Qui-Gon's death Maul retained control, using his anger to further fuel his Force powers, pressing Obi-Wan hard. A kick got through Obi-Wan's defenses flinging him backwards, but the Zabrak couldn't follow up Obi-Wan's Force Shield snapping into place, his attack bouncing off. The two were even for a moment, but Obi-Wan's style would allow him to outlast his opponent.

Using the momentum of that Darth Maul flipped backwards landing lightly before deciding to change his attack style, reaching out with the Force. Feeling this Obi-Wan tensed, but he wasn't the initial target. Instead the Zabrak pulled all the debris, loose tools, bits of equipment, clothing, everything that wasn't nailed down smaller than a starfighter, up into the air. It hovered there for an instant surrounding the two combatants before Maul flung it all at the Jedi padawan from every direction.

Obi-Wan twirled in place, lightsaber slicing and cutting as he tried to use his own Force Push to protect himself, shunting aside the largest bits. His Force Precognition and Soresu was up to the task of this assault for a few minutes but then the Zabrak joined in once more, cutting and thrusting from the front while the attacks form the sides and back kept going. Obi-Wan was thus forced to erect a Force Shield to either side of him wincing at the exertion as the solid objects smashed into them. Still the assault slowly faded.

Now having to worry about attacks from every direction Obi-Wan didn't notice that his back was now to the open doorway of the hanger bay. There, several dozen combat droids, responding belatedly to the illegal starfighter launch, had just arrived. "Unknown lightsaber users, take no chances, gun them both down!"

"Roger, roger!" chorused the other droids to this command.

Even as they did however, Mace Windu arrived at last, cutting three droids in half then using a Force Crush on an entire line of the others, destroying them before they knew what was happening. But most of them had already fired. "Watch out Obi-Wan!"

Obi-Wan hearing that shout and feeling the threat coming pulled his Force Shield around his back to protect himself, which blocked the bolts. But he didn't sense the Zabrak reaching down to several metal pieces of flotsam, bits and pieces of tools Obi Wan had already cut into pieces during his earlier attack. With a Force heave unaccompanied by any gesture those piece flew up as fast as shrapnel, piercing Obi Wan while his lightsaber was locked with one of the Zabrak's. He fell, his legs and stomach perforated. "GAHH!"

"NO!" Mace snarled, and grabbing up several of droids via the Force hurled them towards the Dark Side user, forcing him backwards. Before he could finish cutting or redirecting them, Mace had crossed the intervening distance far faster than any non-Force user could ever have. Leaping to the attack, his purple-bladed lightsaber wove a net of energy around him as he deflected his enemy's attack and struck in turn.

Almost immediately Maul knew he had been right to avoid Mace Windu. Windu's style of Vaapad was designed to use his opponent's hate and anger against him, a sort of mental aikido that no Dark Side user could quite stop. Hate and anger after all was the basis for much of their abilities and their own lightsaber styles. Maul was in general a blunt object, his hate and rage flowed off him in an unending torrent, a black hole in the Force when he allowed his Force Cloak to fall.

It made him extremely susceptible to Vaapad, and Mace bore in hard. Maul backpedaled, leaping away, bouncing around, trying to disengage. But Mace was always there, his purple lightsaber slashing in and out at insane speeds. Maul's weapon and unusual mix of styles gave him a bit of an edge against normal lightsaber users. Here it barely was enough to keep him from dying within the first few moments.

The few times he could get in an attack on Mace, he found one of those damnable Force Shields he had been warned about blocking him. Worse the openings were a trap which nearly cost him his life each time. Only his Force Precognition saved him at those points, and Maul's sides and legs were blistered occasionally by near misses. He used the pain of them to help fuel his strength and speed, but it still wasn't enough.

He tried to disengage, but Mace didn't let him, circling quickly. Every time Maul tried to use the Force to push Mace away or pull loose items toward Mace like he had Obi-Wan, Mace would match them. Even when he tried to pull a down starfighter into his way, Mace followed the leap and was on Maul before he could get away. In reply it was all the Zabrak could to stop the other man's Force Crush from getting through his own defenses.

The one time he misjudged the other's target his Force riposte missed just enough to let it through at half power, and he felt a few of his ribs break. His anger, hate, and yes fear skyrocketing, fueled Maul's Force powers further, but Mace's Vaapad simply absorbed it all and used it to power Mace's own attacks.

"You are good, but you are no Jedi!" Mace said, leaping up over his opponent's attack, his lightsaber cutting downwards rather than towards the Zabrak's body, bisecting the Zabrak's arms right behind the wrists, searing through them in an instant. The double bladed lightsaber fell away, and Mace's next strike took the Zabrak through the chest, going through it like a torch through butter.

Even though he was dead on his feet Maul still tried to use the Force to grab his lightsaber, and it even lifted into the air, racing towards Mace's back. Mace sliced his blade up out of the Zabrak's chest then around, decapitating him, and the double bladed lightsaber fell behind him to clatter on the ground, the blades still humming gently. He stared down at the body for a moment then sighed, before moving over to Obi-Wan swiftly.

 **OOOOOOO**

"…I will watch your future with interest," Chancellor Palpatine said, before turning away with a final pat to Anakin's head. Staring at the man somberly, then out to the ongoing revelry Mace gestured to Anakin indicating he was free for a moment and stood, watching the boy race off towards where the queen and the Gungan Boss Nass were talking. He rejoined Yoda and the other council members staring into the pyre of Qui-Gon Jinn. set up in one of the castle's towers.

Obi-Wan Kenobi's stomach, thighs and intestines had been pierced in multiple places. Mace had done what he could to stop the bleeding, and the young man was even now immersed in a bacta tank. He would live, but it would be a few days before he was allowed out. Bacta worked slower than normal on such delicate items such as the human intestinal system. After that, the young man would probably be given his test for Knighthood, as Jinn had recommended after bringing in Anakin.

Evan Piell looked over the crowd for a moment, his eyes taking in everything, including Anakin's small frame where he stood next to the queen's surviving handmaidens. "Is it true the youth was the one to destroy the control ship?"

"Yes. He was able to both pierce the _Vutuun Palaa_ 's shielding then get inside, and instinctively knew where to use target his proton torpedoes. I would estimate that the boy is already as good at using the Force to guide him in flight as many of our knights, though not up to Tiin's level of course. The Force knew what it was doing when it convinced Qui-Gon to bring him along." Mace replied, making no mention that it had been Anakin's idea not Qui-Gon's to bring him along, and that he had snuck aboard their ship to do it.

Judging by Yoda's eloquent grunt however Mace doubted the aged Grandmaster was fooled. But it was Piell who spoke up again. "And do we have plans for the youth? The way you speak of him, and his response to our tests, make it evident he would not fit in well with the youngling clans his formal training would put him in, and I doubt he would fit in any better with his own age group."

"He might not have formal training, but it is true that Anakin's sheer skill and power would set him apart. Best to begin that way and work any arrogance such might bring on from the start. I will take him on as padawan and see to it personally." Mace replied.

This would be part of his penance for the mistakes he had been making of late went unsaid. Mace blamed himself for what had nearly happened to Aayla, just as he did with the two Jedi sent to deal with the Yinchorri when that crisis began. Further, it had been his suggestion which had split the Jedi on this mission. He knew it had been the correct decision given what they knew and what the Force was able to tell them, but that didn't make it any more wrong.

But yet again Yoda's grunt and an equally telling glance up at the human Master of the Order told Mace that Yoda was aware of more than he had said. He however did not rebuke Mace, simply turning to stare once more into the funeral pyre.

A few moments of silence passed before, Yaddle, who had come along with Yoda, Piell and Yoda's new padawan Wulo, spoke. "This Dark Side user, more to him there is. Connected to the rising power of the Dark Side, you think?"

"I do." Mace replied simply. "He was here for us, for Jedi, not the queen, else he would have attacked her after murdering Qui-Gon. We might still have been targets of opportunity but the TF will need to be investigated for their part in this, and a trail of this Zabrak found and followed."

He shook his head. "Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon fought bravely, but this Dark Side user was trained solely for combat, even with the new techniques he was able to overcome them one at a time. If we had a hint of his presence I would never have allowed us to split up as we did. That was my mistake."

"Hrhrhrm, recrimination enough for now, plans we must make. Alone the Dark Side user might not have been." Yaddle said.

"He was certainly no true master, that is certain, he was a… a knife in the Dark, an assassin, not someone who could be the true source behind the growing power of the Dark Side." Mace replied, shaking his head. "The Order must be further prepared for the coming conflict, though I confess to having no idea how to best seek out the master that is still out there worries me. As does the fact he is still free to act, and we have no idea from where that next assault will come from."

"Much thought that will take, tip our hand we cannot afford to." Yoda spoke up for the first time, his eyes still closed. "Dark the future is, but give into its pressure we cannot. Lights there still are in this universe. Shine brighter we all must, to push away the dark."

 **End Chapter**

* * *

Heh. I bet no one saw that coming. Not only that the main characters wouldn't be involved in the Naboo conflict, but that Mace would deal with Maul and then take Anakin as padawan. Recall their ages however, and the fact they were only peripherally involved with Padme et al and it makes sense. Anyway, hope you liked it, and if you do please review.

Next month neither SW story will be updated - they take a bit too much time and research to let me promise to get out one of these chapters in the same month as an ATP chapter. The poll for next month's small story will be up by Friday afternoon at the latest, so if you want to have a voice in what small story does get updated, check out my profile here, or check out my PRN page and sign up there to have a larger voice in what I write as well as PRN exclusive works!


	6. Chapter 6

Is Harry/Hermione the OTP? No? pity. How about Anakin, is he still a creepy stalker instead of in love? Yes? Pity times two.

This story took second place in the August poll, 377 here and 448 on patty ron, giving it 825 votes. It beat out Gods and Devils and Wild Horses oh My by only six points! Anyway, rather belated, but here it is.

I am sorry this is coming out a few days later than I thought. I had sent it to Kathryn518 for a read through, but since she hasn't gotten back to me. I am rolling with it as is.

THIS chapter has now been beta-read by my small mistakes man, Michael. He turned it over in three days, an astonishing feat for such a large chapter. Please thank him for his work, and I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

 **Bold -Emphasis**

 _italics - thoughts_

 _ship names_

/language other than the standard/

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Making Connections**

"Despite still being rather concerned about the duplicitous nature of how you and Master Fay went about distributing the new techniques and knowledge from Harry and Lily Potter into the Order, **this** was a magnificent gift," muttered Master Tiin to himself. Having just withdrawn his finger from the pensieve, Tiin found himself once more in his own body, standing beside the bodies of the rest of the High Council as they continued to use the pensieve Master Fay and Lily Potter had created. The only one who was missing was Master Piell, who had remained on Naboo.

Currently the High Council was watching Master Windu's confrontation with the Dark Side user. The memory had walked them through from the moment he sensed the Dark Side user's presence to the final confrontation, though having seen how it would go Tiin had exited the memory before the end of the battle.

The other Jedi joined Tiin a moment later, taking their fingers out of the glowing yellow water and moving back to their seats. "No hint there was of the Dark Sider's presence…" Master Yaddle mused, looking searchingly at Master Windu, who had not felt any hint himself during the memory, though he did not know if such a thing would have carried over to the watchers.

"Not one," Mace said, nodding his head as he both acknowledged and agreed with the importance of Master Yaddle's point. "It was a sign of a level of Force Stealth that I would say is even higher than Tholme's or the Dark Woman's. I didn't think that was possible, but then again," he chuckled rather ruefully, gesturing at the pensieve, "I have run into several things that I hadn't thought were possible of late."

For the next few moments the council talked about the lightsaber duel, dissecting the Dark Side user's form and style to see if they could figure out anything about his past. Some of them commented on what had obviously been an excellent showing by Obi-Wan against the Dark Sider using Soresu.

Yaddle pointed out that the weapon was similar to one that Exar Kun had created, which was later used by two of the Generals from the New Sith Wars. "Hard to master it was, but deadly offense and defense in one. A lack of Force techniques the user can use while wielding it, a weakness in the form."

Despite having been the first to exit the pensieve, Master Tiin discerned that there was a hint of Dathomiri footwork here and there that pointed to something of that heritage. But it was in the assassin's distant past, nearly trained out of him, so couldn't be used as a lead.

Master Yoda did not take part in this discussion, instead having closed his eyes, searching his memories. The image of the enemy's tattoos, the black and red mass covering his face, had sparked some recognition from him which Master Windu's description of them back on Naboo had not.

Eventually it was decided that Master Tholme and Master Giiett would be sent out to try and determine where this Dark Side user had come from. As a council member who had proven he could keep secrets, Giiett was a natural choice for his mission, as was Tholme, one of the few Jedi Shadows. They would further induct the other five Shadows into their mission as quietly as possible.

At the same time Master Yaddle and Master Pouf would work with Master Jocasta to go through the archives to see if there was any hint there about this Dark Side user. In particular any unexplained deaths would be followed up by the field team, as would the location of the Lost 19.

They were talking about perhaps getting the Dark Lady to help the field team despite her not being a Jedi Shadow, when Yoda spoke up and everyone turned to him automatically. "A Dark Brother he could have been."

The Dark Brothers were a Sith faction from the New Sith Wars who had survived the war's end. They had popped up around four hundred years afterward, and had done quite a lot of damage to several Core and Mid Rim star systems. Yoda had been involved in hunting them down, having just become a Jedi Master. That battle had been made worse by two Jedi falling to the Dark Side due to anger at their master's death against the Dark Brothers, and had badly damaged the Jedi Order's reputation in those worlds, a perception that continued to this day.

"Tattoos and other markings, match they do," Yoda finished his tale. "Style and control do not. Stealth, far better than the Dark Brothers had was this one's."

"Yet that would still fit," said Master Pouf thoughtfully. "After all, if one of them had survived surely he must have learned Force Stealth. Hiding would've been his best defense against us even after he or she began to rebuild the brotherhood."

"That could also be said about an actual Sith," said Master Tiin bluntly. "What if it was a Sith? A **real** one trained and empowered from birth in the Dark Side? From what I understand from the history texts about them the Dark Brothers were but imitations of the Sith. Would it not be better to assume that there are other Sith out there and prepare for the worst?"

As the rest of the High Council fell silent at what could possibly be called the Order's worst nightmare given voice, Mace opened his mouth, only to close it once more, saying nothing. He had been about to say he was certain that the Sith could not return with the without the Jedi knowing, but there had been too many times of late where his certainty had been proven false for him to still cling to it. It was time to perhaps embrace that uncertainty, at least in some small fashion.

"It…isn't an impossibility. But then, if so, what is their plan? How many of them are there? Where could they have been hiding?" Master Koth asked.

This caused several moments of debate from the council, which ended as Master Yoda spoke, his voice cutting through the debate like a lightsaber through butter. "Why, reveal themselves to us now, should the Sith? Assume it was chance, dangerous it would be to."

"True, it would be incredibly arrogant for any Sith to believe they could have defeated all three of you then retreated with no one having caught a glimpse of them," Koth mused, looking over at Mace. "It is not like we made any great secret that you would be joining the mission to Naboo, my friend."

"They could've been after influence with the Trade Federation," interjected Master Gallia, speaking up for the first time. "The Neimoidians are prone to arrogance and corruption. They would be a prime target for such."

Master Yoda had noticed that both Master Gallia and Master Bilaba had been noticeably silent for most of this discussion. They were still badly shaken from the revelation Aayla's memories had forced them to face, which, Yoda reflected, was understandable. But if it hampered their ability to do their jobs on the High Council, something would have to be done to aid them in finding their equilibrium once more.

"Regardless," Mace said, stepping to his chair and sitting down for the first time in this meeting, popping up a small holographic screen and inputting a few commands. "As Master of the Order, I will inform the Council of First Knowledge that they need to add more lightsaber training into the curriculum. Not enough to alarm most of our members, I think secrecy can now serve us best in this, but enough to make a difference."

The others murmured at that, some agreeing, some disagreeing. Masters Tiin, Koth, and Pouf were of the opinion that spreading the news that the Sith might still be around would either force them out into the open before whatever plans they had were ripe or cause them to be more circumspect in the future, which could be all to the good.

Master Ranicisis and Yoda, however, agreed with Mace and Master Giiett. It was obvious that whoever was out there, Dark Brothers or Sith, would know that the Jedi Order knew about them now. Hiding their preparations to face this new threat as much as possible would serve the Order best until they had an idea of the size of the threat.

Once agreement was reached, Master Windu entered a command sending out the orders to the Council of First Knowledge. That was the council who organized and controlled the teaching regimen of the younglings. They also looked after the Jedi Archives.

"I also wish to make an announcement," Mace said, standing up once again and looking around at the others, his face shifting into even more formal lines than normal. "I hereby state that I am stepping down as Master of the Order."

Silence met this as some of the other masters simply nodded, while others, like Eeth Koth, Tiin, and Bilaba, looked shocked at the very idea.

"I feel I must do this so that I can concentrate on teaching my new padawan."

"Anakin," said Giiett noncommittally. "You have decided to follow Master Qui-Gon's footsteps, then."

"Qui-Gon was correct. Anakin is touched by the Force. It was his piloting that destroyed the Lucrehulk command ship. Without him the battle might well been lost, and he needs personalized instruction. I also have no doubt that Obi-Wan would try to take him as a padawan, but he is too young to take on a padawan yet, and it might well ruin them both."

"The boy also needs some of that arrogance of his whacked out of him. And who better for that then you or one of the other swordmasters?" said Depa Bilaba, nodding. As Mace's former padawan she knew he was a demanding teacher. It was also true that as Master of the Order, Mace had far too much on his plate on a day-to-day basis to see to teaching a padawan. Depa had been his padawan before his ascension to the position, and he had not taken another one since.

Yoda grumbled a little, shaking his head. "Hrhrhrm. My opinion, changed it has not. Guilt and self-doubt, letting them influence your choices you are. Yet say you are wrong to do so, I cannot. But Master of the Order there must be."

Master Pouf interjected, "Surely you could take up the position, Master Yoda."

"No. Grandmaster I am. Desire to be Master of the Order once more, I do not have," Yoda replied firmly.

The Grandmaster was the titular head of the Order, the one who decided on policy for the most part, who could speak for the Order as a whole to the Senate and was generally seen as a source of wisdom and guidance for the Order.

This wasn't a full time job, really. More of a figurehead position called in on decisions or topics that would affect the Order as a whole, where political minefields lay or when a tie-breaking vote was needed. But Yoda also had a padawan: young Wulo of Clan Saa.

The Master of the Order was the manager, the individual who ran the day to day business of the Order and oversaw the running and interaction of the three other councils. The individual who had this position could impact policy to a high degree, but it was a position for an analytical and organized mind.

After some discussion, Master Ranicisis agreed to take on the position. He was a master of Battle Meditation, a Jedi technique which used the Force to discern the flow and patterns of war. If violence began to break out against the Order his skills might well be a necessity, though he had never shown the ability to use it on a galactic scale. He was also not tainted by the decision involving Aayla. Conversely he was not involved with Clan Saa and the techniques they were sharing with the rest of the Order.

This was an important distinction. By the time Mace and Yoda had returned from Naboo many of the High Council had recovered from their response to Harry and Aayla's numerous body blows to their views of the universe and had become even more leery of the changes of the Order, somewhat reactionary almost.

Ironically Master Piell had not shown any sign of that. But he had remained behind on Naboo to help bolster the Queen's position and bear witness to the new treaty between the human and Gungan populations.

Of course Mace would still hold a position on the council, but only when he was in the temple, and he would not become involved further in all of the day-to-day decisions. This and his staying in the temple for the next half a year to help Ranicisis get up to speed would allow for a smooth transition.

Master Ranicisis bowed his head, a fluid motion from a Thisspiasian which began at the neck area and then flowed down into a bow from his snakelike middle. "Very well. I will go through the paperwork starting later today to see what I think needs to be changed in the day to day running of the Order. However, Master Windu has already made a significant start in what I believe needs to occur and has pointed out an area which needs to become more emphasized into the future: more lightsaber training.

"I also wish us to look into the idea of no longer sending out single Master and padawan pairs on any mission that might include violence. Master Qui-Gon was a well-regarded duelist within the Order, not the best, but certainly not the worst. And this Dark Side user apparently took him down with ease. This shows that a Force user who is trained entirely for combat will have an advantage over Jedi who are more diverse in their training."

"We don't have enough Guardians to send on every dangerous mission that we are assigned to by the Senate or asked to look into by the various sector and system governments, let alone those that the Order chooses based on our information network or the Force," protested Master Tiin, while across from him Master Plo Koon nodded somberly. As the only two Guardians on the High Council, they knew how few Guardians there were in the Order. Indeed, the two of them and the leader of the Temple's guard who served on the Council of First Knowledge were the only Guardians in the four councils the Jedi used to organize themselves.

Master Giiett, the only Sentinel on the High Council, nodded as well from where he sat next to Plo Koon. His sect was in much the same position. Though somewhat more numerous, the Sentinels were also far busier thanks to their skills, and even less well known or represented at the administrative level. Indeed, there was only one other Sentinel currently serving on any of the councils.

"Then that will need to change for both Guardian and Sentinel sects. We will assign an observer to watch the younglings' classes and slowly change out those teachers who are subtly pushing the students into choosing the Consular path over the other two sects. We need Sentinels as well as Guardians. The past few years have shown us this even discounting the Dark Side user and the mystery of his existence."

Ranicisis paused then looked over at Yoda, who nodded his ancient head slowly in agreement. Seeing this, Ranicisis went on. "Furthermore, we will look into whether there is a correlation between Jedi deaths on missions and their lightsaber styles. If there is, we will need to correct it."

"You're talking about retraining Jedi Masters who might very well be too set in their ways to accept such," cautioned Master Gallia, a practitioner of Niiman, which was known as the Jack-of-all-trades style. "Many of the Consulars will protest, seeing it as pointless and unnecessary for their duties, possibly even dangerously provocative for those who deal with the Senate and other high-ranking officials or leaders that already look at us with suspicion."

"Perhaps, but perhaps not. If relearning lightsaber skills can save their lives later on, can they truly object?" Master Ranicisis asked, one wrinkled, hairy eyebrow rising interrogatively.

"A new broom sweeps clean," murmured Master Giiett, smiling faintly at the oldThisspiasian master.

"That, and fear," Master Ranicisis said bluntly, his eyes flashing for a moment behind his beard and massive eyebrows. Despite being reptilian in many ways and though few could see past their seemingly tranquil natures, Thisspiasians were a warrior people at heart with a long history and deep rivers of rage which only constant meditation could quench. This was true even for Jedi, of course, and Oppo Ranicisis was no stranger to combat both external and internal.

"We have buried far too many Jedi of late: six Jedi in the last year alone, four before that," Oppo went on. "With the knowledge that some Dark Side sect might exist out there it behooves us to realize this and start to take action against it."

"Will this retraining regimen warn our enemies that we are planning against them?" Master Pouf asked, frowning. He knew he would be one of the first Jedi forced to submit to retraining in lightsaber combat and didn't like the thought.

"No," Master Ranicisis replied quickly, and several of the other Masters nodded. "As was said earlier, the Dark Side users must know that we suspect their existence at this point. If we take no action, that will be seen as suspicious. This action can, in fact, be a screen to cover the research into the archives and the Jedi Shadows' searches."

Master Ranicisis fell silent, looking at Master Giiett for a moment. Like Master Yoda, Master Giiett was deeply involved in new techniques and abilities that had come from Lily and Harry Potter, the young human padawan of Master Fay and his biological mother, now a Force Ghost of surprising power.

 _Odd concept to think about,_ he thought, hiding an internal chuckle. His race, after all, did not actually have pair bondings and biologically speaking did not actually have sex as most races understood the term, and the idea of a single parent raising a child was very strange. The idea was frankly a little perverted to him. His people also raised offspring in crèches organized on a clan level with multiple caregivers of both genders looking after the children.

Putting his inner amusement aside, Ranicisis asked "Micah, have you decided on a padawan as yet?"

It had been a few years since Master Giiett had taken a padawan. Despite that he was known as one of the better teachers among the Order, routinely called in to help teach the younglings.

"No, I have not. I was actually thinking of waiting for young Alecto to return to the Temple and take him on as a padawan. The boy's intelligent, eager, and a crack shot who has wanted to be a Sentinel since he was quite young. It seems a good match to me." Giiett had initially wanted to take Zule as his padawan, but the Council of Knowledge had decided to assign her to the heavy-handed Master Glaive. They thought he would wear Zule's tempestuous anger away better than his gentle approach would.

"Excellent." Ranicisis looked over at Master Tiin, who snorted, shaking his head, but that was fine as well. "I believe that his abilities will help you on your mission, and your prior connection with Alecto will allow you to help him get past his grief at Master Thun's demise more quickly than would otherwise be the case. Tomorrow I expect the two of you to have some plan in place to start your own search. Master Yaddle, as you will be in charge of the team searching the archives, would a weekly progress report be too much to ask for? Or would you prefer a monthly one?"

"Monthly reports, best it would be," Yaddle replied quickly. "If information found, update progress more frequently we may."

Later, after the meeting broke up, Mace made his way down towards one of the meditation rooms. He stayed there for several hours meditating on his path forward, coming away with a vague sense of being on the right path, but no clear reason as to whether or not his decision with Anakin was part of why it was the right path or not. The only thing that came to mind was an argument he'd had with Qui-Gon on the nature of the Force several years ago:

"Living in the now," Qui-Gon had said, "opens you up to more possibilities. This allows you to roll with surprises, to take advantage of impressions the Force sends you in ways that settling on one rigid vision of the future cannot."

Mace had replied, "Yes, but you lack the certainty of purpose. You're **too** open, Qui-Gon. You can be diverted from your path through not just vague impressions of the Force but emotions and thoughts that you perceive as such. The Unifying Force does not allow for that. It gives us the certainty of our purpose. And that, my friend, is more important to me than being open to changes in the wind which may lead you astray."

"You call it being led astray, Mace, but if the Force is directing you, can you truly say that is actually the case?"

Sighing, Master Windu came out of his meditation, shaking his head slightly. "Farewell, my friend. You will be missed, even if you sometimes drove me up the wall." Chuckling a bit as he remembered the times that had occurred, Mace left his personal meditation area, a small severe cell set next to his equally bare room. From there he made his way down to the more public meditation rooms, which substituted in many cases for both training and meeting areas.

Eventually he found Anakin in one of the larger meditation areas, a hydroponic garden with many numerous paths through it which doubled as a food source and a small exercise area. But the youth from Tatooine was not alone. Wulo was with him along with Yoda, who was sitting on Wulo's back with Anakin as the Chironian ran to and fro through the meditation area.

Wulo's race was one that needed a lot of exercise on a day to day basis to keep in physical shape. He spent several hours here exercising above and beyond the normal exercises Yoda had him doing.

As Mace came towards them, Yoda was saying something. "The Jedi Path, learn it you will. Meditation too you will learn, a necessity of all training it is. Not only emotions it will teach you to control. Imagination and organization, begin to consciously develop both you will. Imagination, help you form the Force externally it can. Organization, knowing when and what techniques to use, aid you it shall."

That right there was the secret to why Master Yoda had taken on a padawan at this point and one of the youngsters from clan Saa in particular. Wulo was actually not very strong in the Force. Indeed, he was quite a bit weaker than the normal cutoff point used by the Council of Reassignment to decide if someone would be sent to the agricultural core. But he had a lot of dedication and imagination and could use the techniques of clan Saa quite well. Yoda taught him control, which allowed Wulo to use all the strength in the Force he had. In turn Yoda learned imagination from Wulo, which helped him in mastering the techniques of the clan, giving the techniques a lot more legitimacy throughout the Order. Through this the two of them had formed a close bond, though both went to pains to hide it from most people.

As Mace strode toward them, Yoda smacked Wulo on the rump with his stick. "Halt you will now. Leaving us Anakin will be."

Anakin slid off the Chironian youth's back with a smile which faded slightly as he saw Mace waiting for him. "Master Yoda, Padawan Wulo," Mace said calmly, nodding his head. "Thank you for looking out for Anakin."

"It was no trouble, Master Windu," said Wulo, who had watched Anakin during the earlier meeting and after. "He's intelligent enough, if a little opinionated," he teased the younger boy. "Still, running him into the ground was fun."

It was only then that Mace noted that Anakin looked a little tired, his clothing drooping off him, and there were numerous sweat stains here and there. He smiled faintly to himself. That might make him more susceptible to a few hours of meditation and discussion later, and Mace sent an appreciative nod Wulo's way.

"How was I supposed to know you'd be so fast on those four feet of yours? You're the first centauriform I've ever met," Anakin protested. "Put me in a racing pod let's see who's faster then!"

"But that would not have anything to do with who among us is faster, but who has the best reflexes," Wulo said with a smile. "I would certainly lose there. And what would you gain from such a contest?"

"Why do I think you're making fun of me?" Anakin muttered, looking away.

"He is trying to teach you a lesson, youngling," Mace said, resting a hand gently if inescapably on Anakin's shoulder. "A contest between the two of you in your specialty of piloting would avail neither of you anything. On the one hand, you would learn nothing and gain nothing by beating Wulo, and on the other, neither would he learn anything from losing. Why would you seek such an uneven contest?"

Anakin flushed still looking away, and Mace smiled thinly. "Come child, we must talk."

With a final bow towards Master Yoda, who had been silent since Windu arrived watching them all, Mace led the boy away. Within a few moments he heard Wulo racing around once more as Master Yoda began further lessons, lightsaber instruction from the sound of it. Yoda had not, however, made any move to actually get off his padawan's back, which amused Mace. _I certainly hope that doesn't start to develop into an actual habit_ …

Mace led Anakin through the temple higher up from the meditation halls into the levels where masters and knights had rooms before the start of the library levels. Since it was a little past lunchtime this area was empty of other people, which was good. _Now how to go about this? Circumspectly or bluntly?_ Really, that wasn't even a question. Mace did not do circumspect very well.

"There is anger in you," Mace said bluntly. "Hate and arrogance too. This is why many of the Order are leery of allowing you to join our ranks. Have you felt that during your interaction with the other Jedi you have met?"

"Yes, Master Windu," said Anakin hesitantly. "But I don't understand it at all. I thought that Master Jinn said that listening to the Force was supposed to be a good thing, and can't emotions make you powerful?"

"Why do you think that?" Mace asked

"I have… I've known there's something different about me for a while, but I couldn't always control it. The few times I did, it was in the pod races or when I was working on a hard job. And I thought I was better, that is, I **was** better when I called for the Force through my emotions," Anakin replied, his voice becoming more certain as he went on.

"I see. And what emotions did you use?" Mace asked gravely.

Somehow knowing that answering outright would be very bad, Anakin looked away, but Mace pulled him to a stop, his hand once more resting gently but inexorably on Anakin's shoulder. "Tell me," he said calmly.

"Fear, a time or two, Master Windu. Not for myself but for my mom," Anakin added hurriedly, firmly believing that Jedi were above such things as personal fear. "I was worried a few times that if I messed up on the job our owner would do something to her or sell her off to someone else. And one time against another pod racer I used anger or hate. It's not really clear. It, it didn't help me win the race, but it helped me to get out of the pod before it exploded at least when the dug cheated."

Normally Anakin would not have been so hesitant, but all of his usual self-confidence disappeared when he was alone like this with the intimidating, bald-headed Jedi Master. He had heard about what happened on Naboo, had seen Master Qui-Gon's body and the body of his killer, and knew that Master Windu had sliced said killer into several pieces. Further, there was something daunting about the man, sort of like his first impression of Master Dooku, only not hidden under the older man's sangfroid.

"I see," Mace said gravely. "Come with me Anakin. I wish to show you something before we continue."

They retraced their steps, then carried on traveling several floors further down from the meditation center where Windu had found Anakin earlier. They were on the third floor of the Jedi Temple when they stopped going down, entering a series of hallways that led into classrooms.

Eventually they entered one with several dozen easels and other things scattered around. "Many Jedi take up painting in order to help hone their senses and attune themselves to the Force or make sense of the visions they see at first," Mace said in response to Anakin's quizzical look. "I never did, but my padawan did, as did Master Gallia and a few others I know of. It worked for them for a time, and also taught them to not value the works of their hands too highly, which is another valuable lesson. But that is not what we are here for."

Moving towards another, smaller door set in the classroom's far wall, Mace motioned Anakin towards the front desk and gestured for the boy to pull out a large white clay bowl about the size of his two hands cupped together. Anakin did so, and Mace soon came back holding several small containers of paint. "Many people need visual aids to help them understand a concept or technique, and I believe you are one of those. Would that be the case? You learn from looking and doing better than listening?"

"Oh yes, Master Windu," Anakin said eagerly. "I've learned almost all of the stuff I know about mechanics and engineering from doing and watching other people."

"Excellent," Mace said with a smile, the first one he had bestowed upon the young man, which caused Anakin to beam at him. "I will see to having you talk to a few of the Order's engineers, Jedi Knights and Masters who specialize in that craft. It will be interesting to see how far along in that area you are."

The Tatooine native nodded eagerly, already looking forward to those tests.

He fell silent, though, as Mace went on. "However, right now I wish to give you a demonstration of something." He held up the small paint containers, setting them on the table one after another. "Black, anger and hate. Red, fear. Blue inquisitive. Yellow, joy. Pink, love."

Anakin giggled at that, a typical young boy's response to that kind of statement, and Mace allowed him to do so for a few seconds before going on. "Green, serenity, and finally purple, self-control."

Holding up each color in turn save the first he had labeled, Mace poured a small teaspoon of each color into the white bowl. "A normal mind is something like this, at times serene, at times controlled, at others happy or inquisitive. The colors all swirl together into an odd mix. But each color is still there, still part of the whole."

Anakin nodded, watching is Mace mixed the colors altogether with a paintbrush. The new mash didn't look like any of the original colors, but you could still see flashes of those colors in the new pattern.

"But some emotions block out your ability to feel others. Some emotions color all your thoughts if you feel them too often without controlling them." Mace then splattered a teaspoon of black into the bowl. His brush swirled for only a few seconds mixing the black into the other colors. As Anakin watched, the black began to dominate, the other colors slowly disappearing into a morass of only slightly lighter black.

Watching this Anakin gulped, feeling that he was seeing something **very** important.

When Mace spoke, his voice somehow echoed in the youngster's head. "Anger, hate, fear. These we call the Dark Side emotions. We do not call them that just because they are emotions that are painful or hard to control. We call them that because eventually we Jedi, those of us connected to the Force, if we feel these emotions and allow them out of control, allow ourselves to feel them without a buffer, they will start to control us. Right and wrong will slowly start to not matter. Only hate, anger, or fear, and taking out those emotions on those around you."

"I, I understand, Master Windu," Anakin said, looking quite shaken.

"Good," Mace said, again laying a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder and turning Anakin around to look him in the eyes. "Did you know that Master Jinn had wanted to take you on as a padawan?"

Anakin nodded hesitantly. "He, he told me he would. He told me that Obi-Wan was almost ready to become a knight anyway, and that that I had a great destiny to fulfill."

Wincing internally at both portions of that statement, Mace allowed himself to nod gravely. "You are powerful in the Force, Anakin. That is what Master Jinn meant. You and young Harry are both incredibly powerful, and you saw what Harry could do, or perhaps heard about it, at least?"

Anakin nodded excitedly, his eyes coming to life again as he moved past the confusing and rather scary presentation Mace had just given him on the downsides of feeling fear, anger, and hate. Not that he had really understood it. After all, didn't everyone feel those emotions? Why couldn't the Jedi control them? Wasn't that the most important thing?

"However, you cannot allow such thoughts of the future to cloud your present. Arrogance leads to pride and pride to anger when challenged, and thus serves no one, understood?"

Anakin nodded thoughtfully. That, he understood, at least. "Like Sebulba, the pod racer. He was so arrogant, so sure of his position he hated anyone even coming close to his skill, and he started to cheat and lash out, even sometimes against people who weren't a real threat."

"A good analogy, if somewhat limited in scope," Mace replied, gesturing Anakin towards the door, but stopping to pick up the bowl and hand it to the boy. "You will put this in your room as a memory of what we discussed today. Eventually you will even meditate on the topic, but that will come later."

"Erm, Master Windu… I…does that mean…?"

"My friend Qui-Gon saw potential in you. With his death, it falls to me to see if that potential can be made into reality. I will warn you, I am a harsh teacher and a very demanding one. I will work you hard, but if you persevere and turn your latent talent into something real, you can become a great Jedi Knight," Mace said sternly, challengingly.

And as Mace knew Anakin would, he rose to that challenge. "I won't let you down, Master!".

"I'm certain you will, but that too is part of the learning process," Mace said blithely, chuckling. "But we will see together. I will assign you a room next to mine, and then you will start on a few control exercises tonight. We will wait to start training you physically until tomorrow. There are a few youngling exercises of both sorts that you need to pass before we can get to anything truly strenuous."

Anakin scoffed. "But Master, I'm not a youngling, and I've already consciously used the Force a few times, haven't I? Like in the Battle of Naboo! Surely that means I should start an advanced education."

"Is that arrogance I hear?" Mace asked slowly, turning to gaze at Anakin sternly, his good humor gone in an instant.

Anakin flushed then nodded contritely. "I understand, Master. Sorry."

"Good. In that case I will say that yes, you are an advanced student, but that is no reason to neglect the fundamentals. The fundamentals can trip you up just as easily as an advanced technique, and it's important to have a good grounding in everything. But there is another reason for why you need to start on the portions you can teach yourself tonight. I have a final duty I need to perform before I can devote myself to teaching you…"

 **OOOOOOO**

Dooku stared at the holographic representation of Mace Windu, a feeling of sadness welling up within him with surprising strength. Dealing with healing Komari Vosa, Dooku had come to realize the mistakes he had made through arrogance and callousness during Qui-Gon's time as his padawan. He had thought to tell Qui-Gon that when they had met on Tatooine, but it hadn't seemed the right time. Now he would never be able to apologize for those mistakes, nor tell the younger man that he had been proud of how Jinn had turned out.

He shuddered from head to toe for a moment his eyes closing, before opening once more, having regained control of his emotions. "Thank you for informing me. I can tell there is more you would say, and can guess why you are not doing so but I thank you for the call nonetheless." he went on obliquely. "It is ironic that so shortly after having fully rehabilitated one former padawan to Knightly status I lose another, but such are the vagaries of the Force."

After a moment he went on. "Are you doing anything to make certain that Master Qui-Gon's demise does not become a regular occurrence? There have been too many Jedi deaths of late."

"We have decided to revamp our lightsaber training, adding further instruction as well as perform an investigation into deaths of the Jedi in the last ten years or so. Master Ranicisis has ordered that, in his new position as Master of the Order."

"Ah, you will follow-up Qui-Gon's fantasies for Anakin, then?" Dooku asked sharply.

"Now, I do not believe in that particular fantasy. However, I do believe I have a duty to my old friend, and if I did not pick it up, Obi-Wan would. That would be a tragedy for both of them, I think. A young knight should have time to settle into his new rank before taking on a padawan, and Anakin is somewhat too confrontational, I feel, and far too certain of himself for any inexperienced knight to deal with without becoming a ogre. I've already put a dent into that, I think, but it will no doubt be an ongoing task."

"Understandable," Dooku said, grateful that Mace had not completely lost his senses. Dooku had never believed in the Chosen One nonsense, and the fact that his former padawan had begun to believe it had been one of the many things that had driven a wedge between them.

Thinking hard, Dooku leaned back, looking at the ceiling, holding up a finger to indicate he had more to say before looking back at Mace's image. "In fact, if you are serious about having more lightsaber instruction added into the Order, I might have an idea there. Instead of just adding it into the younglings' current curricula, why not create a sort of training camp instead? A place where knights, padawans, and even masters could be sent to retrain or receive extra training?"

"A 'place,' Master Dooku?" Mace asked. "Surely such instruction would be better dealt with in the Temple?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not. This would not be, as I said, just for younglings or padawans. This would be for everyone, and it could also give certain other techniques a place to be taught."

Mace got Dooku's point at once, then nodded slowly. "It would not be traditional, but on the other hand you already have begun a sort of small training camp of sorts, with Aayla, Harry, and your former padawan," he said slowly. "Many of the Masters will look at the idea askance simply because the training is occurring away from the Temple, but if we said it was an advanced lightsaber training center, then we could pull it off, I think. An excellent suggestion, Master Dooku. I will pass it on to the rest of the Order's High Council."

"That is all I ask, Mace," Dooku said with a nod. "Now, if you'll forgive me, I feel the urge to meditate for a time on the nature of grief and what strange lessons it can teach us. The Force be with you, Master Windu."

"The Force be with you, Master Dooku," said Mace, and without another word cut the connection.

 **OOOOOOO**

"Do not worry, my friend," said Plagueis in his alter ego of Hugo Demask. "Even those within the Banking Clan could not overcome the amount of subterfuge that I have create to hide the funding stream for the projects here." Across from the Muun stood Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas.

He looked worried and frustrated, as well he should. One of the few Jedi Masters who could still look into the future for more than a few months at a time, he knew that the darkness was being controlled by someone, and had guessed the identity of that someone was a resurgent Sith threat. As such, he had bought into the idea of creating a secret clone army for the Republic wholeheartedly, believing that the army would be necessary to help the Republic against what was coming. He had no way of knowing that the idea had come from someone else entirely, his purposes expertly manipulated by Plagueis.

"That's all very well and good, but you shouldn't be here at all," the human Jedi Master said quickly, his voice a staccato rhythm as one hand moved through his long, unruly, brown hair. "If the Sith are as heavily connected as we fear they are, surely the head of the Banking Clan disappearing like this will be a point of interest."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. After all, I did not come here in one of my personal yachts. I came here in a decrepit tramp freighter with no known registry. I even deleted the scanner information from the yacht and the tramp freighter when I transferred, and it is widely believed I have a secret mistress on Brentaal. My disappearance while my ship remains there will raise no eyebrows. No one will know I was here, my friend. Keep calm," 'Hugo' soothed. "Let us speak of other things instead. You were happy with the template we used for the army?"

"Somewhat happy, yes," the Jedi Master drawled, shaking his head. "I tested the man's physical abilities and inherent skills, and they were incredible. He even nearly beat me in hand to hand, an astonishing feat. Where you found the template I have no idea, but he will do nicely."

"In that case, let us go over the real reasons why I am here: the funding and the rest of the paperwork you'll need to keep the cloning operation going with the Kaminoans. After we finish, I will remove myself. Yet forgive my curiosity, but you mentioned my own disappearance, yet what of yours? Will anyone within the Jedi Order miss you?" Plagueis asked, injecting a note of worry into his voice.

"No," the human said bluntly. "The Order is under the impression that I am heading out beyond the Outer Rim on a personal vision quest. They will not think to look for me for years if ever. Jedi Masters have retreated from the Order in the past, even turning their backs entirely on them. Master Siolo'urmanka was one such, and Master Fay is another. After all, she doesn't take orders from the rest of the Order. If they think about me at all, Dooku and those among the Order who I count as friends will simply think I am following in her footsteps due to my known antipathy for our connection to the corrupt Senate."

"Very good," said Plagueis, smiling politely even as he internally snarled at the mention of Fay. Her continuing presence in the web of the Force was an irritant, not so much personally any longer, but as to how she comported herself and was viewed by the public. Her message of nonviolence and open palm style of diplomacy were dangerous to the Grand Plan, which made Plagueis thankful the stupid woman had removed herself so much from the Jedi Order as a whole. "Now, let's get onto the paperwork."

The Jedi Master sat down, and the two got down to business. Several hours later he walked Plagueis to the subway tunnel which would take him to the landing bay in Tipoca City. They passed by several Kaminoans who did not give them any second glances, such would be rude within their culture. But they were still under observation as outsiders, since offworlders were very, very rare on Kamino.

"Do not come here again, Hugo," Sifo-Dyas whispered harshly as they came to the subway. "I was serious earlier. Your position makes you far too obvious a target for observation. If you have any more questions either send a go-between which won't attract any interest or set up a secure Holonet line."

"I would not trust a go-between," Plagueis said honestly, the first honest comment he'd made all day wearing his Demask mask. "Instead I have already been looking into creating a subroutine in the Holonet relay system."

So saying he held out a small data disk. "That has all the information on using a subroutine that my associates have emplaced into the Holonet signal. Destroy that hard copy once you've memorized the details."

"You are paranoid. Good," Sifo-Dyas said approvingly. "I know I removed all data about Kamino from the Jedi and Senate archives, but even so, better safe than sorry if both have been infiltrated as we fear."

"Indeed. We play for high stakes, the highest anyone could ever envision, and it behooves us to act appropriately," the Banking Clan head said, nodding his flat featured head slightly even as he felt a spark of real amusement at the game he was playing with this fool. "I have to say thank you for believing in me about the measure of corruption. I had long feared that I was the only one who saw the corruption growing among the halls of power, even the Jedi being blind to them."

"The status quo can blind the best of us, but it was not just your warnings about the issue that I am acting on, but the Force itself. The Force has warned me about what is to come, and I will do my part to prepare the galaxy in order to match it."

"As will I, even if I have no force Power." said Plagueis née Hugo Demask. "Farewell, my friend, and may the, the Force be with you? Is that how you say it?"

"Indeed. And may it be with you as well."

So saying Sifo-Dyas turned, walking away briskly as Plagueis entered the subway tram. He was alone on it at the moment, it being deep in the night cycle of this planet at this location. _Ah, Sifo-Dyas. So intelligent, so forward thinking, yet still so blind. You see, the Force is truly with me and with my apprentice, regardless of our recent setback and the loss of his assassin, far more than it is with you. As you will soon discover to your cost._

Sifo-Dyas had outlived his usefulness of this point. His being alive and knowing about the clones even now gestating in their tubes was a loose end. And Plagueis, both as a banker and a Sith, did so hate loose ends.

 **OOOOOOO**

Sifo-Dyas had known the moment he purchased the clone army from the Kaminoans that he would be on the planet for the long term. As such he had purchased a small, out of the way house, well away from the rest of the population, hidden in a small valley near but not a part of one of the locals' main cities. So out of the way few of the locals even knew it was there. It was a small, bare house, where he could meditate on the Force and remain hidden, Anything else was of no importance to him.

Entering after a swift walk through the bare scrublands around his house, he entered, closing the door behind him as the lights inside the house came on automatically. Then they went out just as suddenly, plunging the house into pitch black darkness.

Wasting no time gaping around him in surprise, Sifo-Dyas twisted to one side of the doorway, activating his lightsaber just in time to intercept a few blaster bolts. Despite his dodge to one side the bolts had come straight at him, which was rather telling. "I do not know who you are, but surrender and I will merely take you prisoner without any injury. If you do not surrender I cannot promise that."

The Jedi's response was another flurry of blaster bolts.

Reaching out with the Force, Sifo-Dyas could sense movement to his right and turned quickly, bringing up his lightsaber again to deflect a few more blaster bolts. A warning of danger through his Force Precognition, however, sent Sifo-Dyas leaping away as the floor underneath his previous position went up in an explosion. _A mine in my own house! This attack is no sudden assault then, but calculated._

The confines of the house worked in the Jedi's favor now, however, as he bounced off the ceiling and then off one wall, still deflecting blaster bolts with his lightsaber. They were fired with unerring accuracy, and always came at such an angle that he knew his attacker was always moving just as quickly as Sifo-Dyas, making him unable to deflect the assaults back in his direction, which he would have thought was impossible before this. _Whoever is attacking me is_ _ **very**_ _good._

Sifo-Dyas stood for a second as his leaping around deposited him on the floor once more, before launching himself forward, trying to close the distance between him and where he sensed his attacker was. "Whatever the Sith have paid you, it's not enough!" he shouted as he closed the distance, batting aside blaster bolts and slicing at his attacker, who ducked underneath the attack in a display of speed that Sifo-Dyas had not seen before in anyone but another Jedi. A leg lashed out, catching his own in the upper thigh, making him stumble, but he was still able to deflect and slice a vibro-knife coming towards his chest in two.

He stumbled once more, gasping in pain as a hand clamped onto his forearm before he could twist his lightsaber around once more. Lashing out with a telekinetic Force blast Sifo-Dyas hurled his attacker way, allowing him to switch his lightsaber to his other hand with which he deflected a few more plasma bolts though one of them still caught him in the side of his ankle. The human Jedi Master gasped once more, but refused to give in, using the Force to deaden the pain of his injuries as he lunged forward once more.

Just then the lights came back on as bright as ever, and despite his Force Precognition telling him it was coming, Sifo-Dyas could not stop his eyes from closing in an automatic reaction that all of his Jedi training could not overcome. He still had the Force, though, and relied on it for the next few seconds as his vision slowly cleared, but his attacker pressed him hard, blaster bolts coming out fast and furious for a few seconds from multiple sides.

Another blast of Force telekinesis hurled the attacker away to slam bodily into the wall, and Sifo-Dyas held him there, glaring at the Mandalorian warrior he had been fighting even as his Jedi training kept him calm and controlled. "You… I see… Jango Fett, why are you here? There is no bounty on my head,"

"You're a Jedi," said the flat voice from the helmet. "That's enough for me."

With a twitch of one of his wrists the Mandalorian fired off a few rockets, which smashed into the wall to one side, sending debris everywhere and forcing Sifo-Dyas to jump away, which in turn forced him to release his Force hold on the man. Jango fell to the ground, then rolled forward, lashing out with what looked like a very thin string.

His Force senses tingling, Sifo-Dyas tried to swipe at the string with his lightsaber, but Jango quickly flipped it around the lightsaber's arc, whipping it around Sifo-Dyas's forearm. He then twisted, and the mono-wire sliced cleanly through bone and tissue, sending blood everywhere.

Sifo-Dyas screamed, falling back, trying to rally his senses through the pain with the Force, but he couldn't. The last thing he saw was Jango standing in front of him, reaching out with his hands. A second later Jango crushed Sifo-Dyas throat with his crush gaunts.

Dropping the dead body on the bloody floor, Jango activated his comm. "It's done," he said flatly. "How do you want me to dispose of the body?"

"Leave it for now," said the voice of his employer on the other side. "I have droids nearby to take care of that. It's best that you remove yourself from the premises as quickly as possible. The paper trail showing him leaving the planet will be done soon. After that you can start contacting your training company and bring them in."

"I still say it was premature of you to call them in. I know I explained to them all why secrecy was important, but they'll still be twiddling their thumbs here for a time."

"No they won't. I'll have them working on combat doctrine and planning out the training. Even Mandalorians can't simply hop into that kind of work, after all."

Jango grunted at that. He wasn't much of a leader, so didn't think in those kind of terms. Still, this had been a very lucrative job for him in many ways. He now had a son to look forward to training, one he could train from birth to be a real Mandalorian without anyone else interfering, and he'd been able to kill another Jedi with the certain knowledge that his template would be used to kill still more. A win-win-win for Jango Fett.

A more paranoid individual might have wondered why he had been told about his employer's long term plans at all, given that he actually wasn't supposed to take part in the training of the legions. And if Sidious had been the one to give him his orders in person at this point, Jango might well have been safe.

But he wasn't. Plagueis was, and Plagueis hated loose ends and didn't trust anyone but his own apprentice. Secrecy, above all, had kept the Order of Two alive and growing stronger since the time of Darth Bane. Secrecy and keeping under the radar. He hadn't even trusted his padawan's pet assassin very much, which had proven to be rather prophetic given his poor showing against Windu and the fact his very existence might warn the Jedi there were still Sith around when, thanks to Dooku's failure to fall into line, the Grand Plan had taken a step back. No, there could be nothing to link the clone army to them, not yet.

When the Force Lightning came from the darkness between two boulders near Sifo-Dyas's house, Jango didn't see it coming at all. FZZZARRKKK!

"GAHAHHHH!" Jango screamed, falling to his knees and then to his armored face as the Force Lightning coruscated around his body.

Over his own screams and the Force Lightning a voice intoned, "You have done excellent work for the Sith, Jango Fett. Your genetic children will be the tool to end the Jedi for all time. Take that with you as consolation as you die."

Plagueis kept his Force Lightning going for a few more seconds after he determined the Mandalorian bounty Hunter was dead. _It is best to be certain of such things, after all._ Then he gestured forward, and a few black painted droids of various types moved forward to do their grisly work. One began to strip the Mandalorian of his armor, which one of the droids disposed of, as the others began their work on his body. In a few hours both Jango's body and that of Sifo-Dyas would be fertilizing a few local farming habitats.

After making certain the droids were being thorough, Plagueis turned away, walking off without further concern for the grisly sight behind him. The Jedi Master had chosen this place because it was empty of any all other life, allowing him both solitude and secrecy. That had come to plague him, and it allowed Plagueis to make certain that no one found either body.

He made two more stops before leaving the planet. First was to make certain that the training core had their marching orders and were completely cut off from any kind of hyperspace communications here. Just as he had not trusted Jango, he did not trust them overmuch, but they would perform adequately. They were surprised to not be meeting Jango, but when told he had duties elsewhere, the Mandalorians the now-deceased bounty hunter had brought together as the Cuy'val Darunderstood.

Under a Force-assisted illusion that portrayed him as a random senatorial aide, Plagueis gave them an impassioned plea that Sidious had written for him. It told the Cuy'val Dar that they would be a major part of creating a new era of order and prosperity once the clone army was on line, and they could sweep away the old corruption of both the Senate and the Jedi Order, ushering in a new era of centralized authority which would bring prosperity to all.

It was a passionate speech, and all of them bought into it, which almost made Plagueis chuckle. There would, of course, be a centralized authority. Despotisms had to be centralized by their very nature. The speech was also a front, of course, a way to grab his victims' attentions as Plagueis sent his Force powers into their minds, making them more biddable, more subservient to his orders in the future, less questioning about their role or that of the clone army they were creating.

His second stop was much faster, picking up the clone cylinder with Jango's child in it. This clone didn't have any of the modifications the others did to make them more biddable and susceptible to mental commands. But Plagueis wanted to see what could be done with a normal individual if given Sith training or possibly imbued with the Force powers of Sidious's assassin. Whatever he decided to do with it, the baby would be an interesting experiment to while away his time as he made plans to recover or turn the vergence he had created to the Sith cause.

 **OOOOOOO**

It had been several days since the events on Naboo had reached their conclusion, and the new Chancellor of the Republic was still stuck on the planet. There were a few political reasons for this, though admittedly most of them he could have handed off to other people. However Sidious had wished to make certain that Maul's ship was taken off-world with no one the wiser. That ship represented a lot of technology that he did not want to see falling into the Jedi's hands even discounting the fact that its construction might well have pointed them to some of the Sith's secret bases.

He also wanted to plant a few spies in the royal palace. Sidious hadn't had to do so before: Captain Panaka had been his creature even if he didn't know it, which of course meant "Palpatine" would need to find a suitable replacement to watch the child queen. _Such are the dangers of compartmentalization. Still, one tool is much like another._

That, of course, was a minor detail in comparison to the large one Sidious continued to think about at the back of his head, that of coming up with a replacement for Maul. His next choice was not ready to fall into his lap just yet, so instead Sidious decided to take some time to think long term, sneaking some genetic material from Maul's corpse just in case. _It never hurts to play the long game,_ Palpatine thought, before returning to the here and now, watching Padme and the fat amphibian Boss Nass work over the wording of their pact.

Padme had surprised Sidious in a few ways over the past two days. She had used the crisis to remove power from her so-called advisors, the ones who had insisted on her surrendering the planet and then had done nothing for her people under occupation after she was forced to flee. After a public referendum on their conduct, they had all been removed from power, placing the reins of the government in Padme's small, feminine hands. It had been a shrewd political move, and her alliance with the amphibian Gungans had shown that she was flexible as well as giving Naboo an extra bit of military strength. Not in the conventional sense, but the filthy amphibians' victory against the droid army had given them quite a bit of fame in local space.

 _In the long term this gambit will fail. She is too idealistic and inexperienced, and will no doubt trip up, yet even so it shows a distinct level of promise. If only she was not such a peacenik she would be a much more useful tool. Still, when she trips up Padme knows she will always have me, her old senator, as an ally…_

Seeing that the fat oaf of an overgrown frog had finished speaking, "Palpatine" stood up, smiling and putting his signature down on the paper between them with a fanciful overdone twirl of his pen. As one of Padme's maids began to transcribe the treaty, "Palpatine" looked across the table at Padme.

"Now we come to the matter of the four Lucrehulk ships that remain in Naboo's possession. Handing them over to the Republic would be a sign of good faith between yourself and the Senate. After all, you already have all of the weapons from the droids, and no one is gainsaying your desire to keep the starfighters or the droid parts. Those will gain Naboo quite a lot of money, and that plus the reparations we have already forced down the Trade Federation's throats will make certain that they will never repeat this adventure. On the other side of the river, the idea of letting those four ships in the hands of any regional power is a worrisome one from the Senate's perspective. I am certain that the Republic Senate will authorize payment of what, is it called prize money?"

"I will release them to your care, Chancellor, when all of my people are accounted for." Padme grimly handed a large sheaf of papers across the table to the Chancellor. Her grim appearance was aided by her white makeup. Since she was working as queen at present, Padme was dressed in her formal robe. _I wonder if the reason we keep these stuffy robes around is as incentive to get our work done. The faster we get meetings like this done, the faster we can change out of them, after all._

Palpatine glanced through the papers, all of which looked like hospital and obituary reports, followed up by citywide missing people reports. As he did so Padme explained, her voice serious despite whimsical thought. "There is a large difference between the number of missing people being reported both in my capital and in other cities in comparison to the ones that are known to have died during the occupation. What happened to them? Where did they go? Are we looking at some kind of long-term hostage situation, or have they merely been misplaced elsewhere? None of the Lucrehulks left the planet, so we have no worries of them having been taken away en masse. Yet even so, that begs the question of where they are."

Putting the papers down one after another, Sidious frowned. "I…do not have any idea where they could be," he said honestly. "Is this disparity accurate? Naboo is currently missing upwards of 11,000 people?"

"It's accurate," said Master Piell. He had heretofore been silent, speaking up for the first time during the discussion. He had allowed the Chancellor to be the mediator for this meeting between the two principal leaders of the planet, only speaking up when asked details about the battle, what he thought about the distribution of the weapons, and whether Naboo should invest in a planetary shield generator. "I talked to the police chiefs of the various cities myself this morning, and they've been very thorough about keeping records of who went missing. I have Obi-Wan looking for video footage from any of the cities that might show anything unusual at the moment. I imagine he will have something for us later today."

"I can understand your concerns, however I fail to see how holding the four Lucrehulks will help. I am already dealing with a backlash from the Senate about our high-handed nature in ramming through reparations from the Trade Federation, as well as my push to limit their military power before the trials of Gunray and his fellows finish. If you keep those ships, you're just going to look petty, I'm afraid," Chancellor Palpatine said sadly. "They really should return to the trade routes they were assigned to before this. There are dozens of systems that need their goods."

"I can deal with looking petty, so long as I hold a very effective hammer over the Trade Federation," Padme said dryly. "I've already spoken to the representative they sent here to speak on their behalf as their Gunray languishes in my jail, and he knows nothing about this. But he is just as dismayed as you are that those ships remain under our control. Not that Naboo could actually do much with them. We lack the industrial base to make best use of ships of that size."

"Hmm…" Palpatine mused, leaning back, frowning. He let the Lannik Jedi and the fat amphibian discuss possible hiding places for that large a group of hostages for a moment as he thought. The four ships weren't really that important to Sidious in the long term, but they represented a tremendous amount of capital and investment from the Trade Federation. Easily able to hold an entire army of droids each or literally trillions of credits worth of merchandise, those ships, and their ability to build hundreds of them, had, along with their knowledge of the hyperspace trade routes, been the reason the Trade Federation had become so powerful.

Yet despite their massive size, they had proven to be vulnerable in this, their combat debut. They had good armor and shielding, but their anti-fighter defenses were a major weakness in their design, as was the fact that the control type's signal output marked it out as the flagship. Then, of course, was the fact that once inside the energy shield, the central control sphere was horribly vulnerable to attack.

Sidious had wanted to remove those ships from Naboo ostensibly to have them destroyed, or handed over to the Republic for humanitarian aid missions that would net "Palpatine" a major boost in public relations. Then, of course, once they were out of the public eye, the Lucrehulks could be used to start building up the Trade Federation's real military strength hidden away from any prying eyes out in the Outer Rim. The Trade Federation had all the infrastructure and industrial nodes ready to go, but they still needed to be transported, and at this point all of the Trade Federation ships were being watched too closely for any of them to do that. _Yet it would be some time before that lack will truly matter in the long term…_

"I will agree to this," Palpatine said, interrupting the discussion going on and addressing Padme. "And I will inform the Senate of these missing individuals. We will put as much pressure on the Trade Federation as possible in the court of public opinion both here and throughout the Republic. We can contact several intergalactic news agencies to run the story. This might not work, but…"

Just then someone knocked on the door, and the queen turned, holding up a hand to stall the Chancellor's words. "Come in?"

Obi-Wan came in then, leaning heavily on his crutches and moving forward slowly, his movements a mockery of the speed and quickness he had shown before his injuries. He had been cleared to leave the bacta tank, but his legs were still very wobbly underneath him, and even with bacta gut injuries took weeks to heal.

"I have a video recording I think you should all look at," Obi-Wan said without preamble, moving towards the table and holding out a data-chip to the queen.

Padme took it, then slid it into the data-reader, and a moment later the video began to play in the holographic screen set into the center of the table. It showed what looked like a common street way, leading into what looked like one of the smaller landing areas, which none of the watchers recognized offhand.

Obi-Wan explained. "This came from Jan-gwa. This particular video is from about seven hours before the liberation of the planet."

"Odd timing," said Piell, frowning thoughtfully. "Isn't that when your insertion occurred?"

Both Obi-Wan and Padme nodded, and the group continued to watch.

The scene shifted to a video from another camera set into the landing area on a kind of tripod from a nearby rooftop. "This is from a security camera which was turned around by police to cover the landing areas to help in a black market sting."

Padme scowled at that, unhappy that her planet had any kind of criminal underground, and "Palpatine" carefully stopped himself from rolling his eyes. _The girl is just too naïve for words at times._

The ship on the screen was not one of the large Lucrehulks. It was a somewhat smaller medium-sized freighter, which the Trade Federation used on their shorter and less important routes when they knew they weren't going to run into any violence. Around it stood seven droid soldiers, all standing idly as the video began.

Fast forwarding the video showed the arrival of a Neimoidian on one of their hover chairs, who flew up into the ship, followed by several hundred more droids. These stood in a long line, and soon from the outer edge of the video recording came a mass of humanity. It was hard to make out individual faces through the video recording, of course, but there were a **lot** of them.

"I counted over 450 faces on this one trip alone. And there were nine other trips just like this," Obi-Wan said grimly. "Worse, I stopped in and looked over the flight data from the few space sensors and the Lucrehulks we captured. That same ship was recorded by a few of the Lucrehulks as coming and going from the Naboo system dozens of times during the occupation."

"Damn those Trade Federation bastards!" Padme shouted suddenly, storming to her feet her hands slamming down on the table as she marched around hurling out invective like a sailor, moving so fast she nearly tripped a few times over her robes in her anger. Boss Nass was also growling, though he was much less emotionally connected to this issue than the Queen was.

The two Jedi simply watched, switching their attention between the Queen and the Chancellor as the Queen wound down. Sitting down once more she glared at all of them and even a few of her maids in the room, demanding their input. "They've sold my people into slavery. How can we get them back?"

"Now I wish I could stay longer," Palpatine said sadly. "Surely my added weight to your investigation would help matters along."

"I doubt it, Chancellor" said Obi-Wan, sighing faintly. "Unless we can get a close-up of that particular Trade Federation captain, we have no leads just yet."

Padme growled, but nodded agreement. "I will, however, hold the Lucrehulks and start questioning our prisoners. You may still take Gunray as has already been discussed, but I will not release either the Lucrehulks or most of our prisoners to the Republic or anyone else until my people are returned."

"A perfectly understandable position given the severity of this incident," Palpatine said gravely, while inwardly amused with the amount of vitriol the young girl had been able to put into her voice as well as her mastery of invective. _My word, I don't think she repeated herself even once in that rant._

"Obi-Wan, stay with Padme. Help her is much as you can to get this investigation started. I will walk the Chancellor to his quarters and then start questioning the prisoners," Piell said, standing up.

Boss Nass also stood up, making for the door. The three of them exited the room silently as Padme and Obi-Wan bent to their work, getting in touch with various police forces and starting the ball rolling on widening the search for more video evidence of the abductions, as well as going through the databases they had captured from the Lucrehulks to see if they could figure out who owned that ship.

After bidding Boss Nass farewell, the Jedi Master and chancellor were silent for a time as they walked, and then Palpatine sighed faintly. "A new Queen, yet she has handled more turmoil than anything her predecessor ever faced with a poise and vigor that would surprise me in someone twice her experience."

"I did not ever meet the old king of this planet. Was he a competent ruler?" Piell asked.

"No, not overmuch, though I never got along with him. I do not know how he was when he first began his reign, but when I knew him he was a very corrupt individual, and almost but not quite a despot. Indeed, he would have been a despot if the position of king were powerful enough to allow it. He did, however, do away with one of the main blocks to that assumption of power, making his position for life rather than one where you had to be elected to it every five years. I was quite pleased that the Queen put that law back in place the moment she took office. But was there something specific you wanted to speak to be about, Master Piell?"

"I will continue to try to get Padme to release those ships to the Republic. You are correct in that it sets a bad precedent for a single system polity to have such a powerful mobile military. However, I wanted to ask about Nute Gunray's trial, and that of his fellows."

"They proceed apace. Both sides have begun to present their cases in front of the judge already. I picked Judge Laofey personally. He's a good man who will not be swayed by money." Palpatine coughed delicately, looking away. "Unlike so many judges who are forced to rule on senators or other powerful individuals."

The man in question was in Sidious's pocket already, of course. That was why he wouldn't be swayed by money, and he would hand out precisely the penalties and restrictions that Palpatine demanded of him with the proper amount of anger and sadness at how the trials would turn out. It would be the start of what Sidious would publicly claim was a campaign to do away with corruption, which would, of course, run into lots and lots of problems. With that he could begin the work of slowly shifting public opinion in the Core Worlds to a more authoritarian, centralized government, giving his position as Chancellor more power while removing it from the Senate in a very subtle manner.

"Good," Piell nodded firmly. "In that case I will have Gunray released to my purview tomorrow, and he and I will travel to Coruscant that same day. I realize he would normally travel with you, but this way we provide defense on his journey and prevent rumors of collusion or bribery. He will stand in that courtroom and face the crimes he is accused of."

Palpatine nodded. "Indeed, a good idea. I should have thought of that before this. I also have to offer my condolences once again to you and the Order as a whole for your losses here on Naboo. Who would've thought the Trade Federation could ever have come up with a military force dangerous enough to defeat two Jedi?"

"Indeed," the Jedi Master said coolly. "Who would've thought it?"

"Yet surely there were other mitigating circumstances that stayed Master Jinn from performing to his full abilities," Palpatine blithely went on, watching the Lannik Jedi Master's expression and body language closely behind his veneer of sympathy.

The Jedi Master, however, gave nothing away then or during their walk to Palpatine's temporary quarters. _So, the Jedi plan to play their cards closely, the fools. They are so predictable! The longer they keep it a secret, the more their actions will seem simply paranoid to the rest of the galaxy, and I can use that backlash against them in the court of public opinion. Yes, all is going to plan. Now I just need to head back to Coruscant and start to influence Anakin, find out who he has been assigned to if anyone and…perhaps perform a personal task…_

 **OOOOOOO**

Having returned quickly to Sorenno, Harry and Aayla heard about what had happened, but there was little they could do about it from so distant a position, and they had their own training to concentrate on. This wasn't all lightsaber training for the two padawans, of course. Master Fay helped teach Aayla several healing techniques that she had already taught Harry, Harry's own attempt at teaching them having fallen somewhat flat since he still had quite a bit of trouble with them himself. They continued to learn about galactic politics from Count Dooku, and they learned more about Force Stealth and criminal investigations from Ayla's master, Quinlan. Master Unduli, after giving Knight Vosa a clean bill of mental and physical help, had left Sorenno.

However, Quinlan was often busy helping Knight Vosa in her investigation into the pirate scourge afflicting the D'Astan Sectorand two of its neighboring sectors, Daedalus and Glythe. Quinlan did much of the legwork, heading to the various planets whose shipping was suffering under the pirate attacks and turning any data he discovered over to Komari to go over. She then compared it to data already in the Jedi Order's hands, as well as what Republic Intelligence, a very limited, highly politicized agency, had discovered or not discovered.

He also gathered data directly from local investigators, because most of the planets weren't actually talking to one another. The sectors didn't talk to one another at times. Even planets in the same sector didn't talk on the judicial or investigative level. They left that kind of thing to either the Republic as a whole (who, as Harry put it, obviously weren't doing it so well), or the Bounty Hunters' Guild if a specific criminal escaped from one planetary jurisdiction to another. But as a Jedi, Quinlan could talk to all of them one after another, gathering information and passing it on to Komari to correlate.

Normally as his padawan Aayla would've gone with Quinlan on those missions, but the two of them had decided to leave her with Harry and Master Dooku. Master Dooku's instruction in both galactic politics and lightsaber training was a step above Quinlan's own, and it was not the first time that they had separated from one another short amounts of time.

So generally speaking, the two padawans fell into the same sort of routine that they had before their trip to Coruscant. Master Dooku's days, however, were somewhat different after his talk with Master Windu. He began to organize and then oversee the construction of a much larger training area, the actual construction being carried out by teams of droids and workers. He also ordered lots of different training tools and talked extensively with Lily about teaching and organizing classes.

On top of their daily training, Harry and Aayla used their limited spare time to begin to get a handle on their relationship. The two of them each had a small threadbare room to themselves, separated by a bathroom that they shared. Lily, however, had given them a lecture on going too fast that left both their ears ringing, so for the most part the bathroom was simply a thing rather than a rendezvous point for their relationship.

However, the bathroom did lead to the bit of discord between them, however minor.

Sighing and groaning, Aayla rolled out of bed, not quite awake yet. Last night Master Dooku had decided to wake up the two padawans three times to work on their reaction times in an ambush environment. It hadn't been the first time she'd dealt with such training, but Dooku had already worked the two of them to the bone during the day, which made it harder to deal with than when her own master had done it.

Grumbling, she reached out for Harry through their mental link, finding him up and getting dressed. This meant the bathroom was clear, which was good considering she needed to use the bathroom. Walking in, Aayla dropped her pants, closing her eyes as another massive yawn came to her before sitting down, her eyes still closed as she sat down on the toilet. A feeling of cold ceramic touching her thighs and rear woke her up abruptly, and she hissed, but finished her business before standing up grimly, pulling her pants up and banging the door into Harry's room open. "Harry Potter!"

Twisting away from where he had been using a technique to clean his clothes, Harry gulped, trying to guess what had irritated Aayla, but getting no clue through their link. "Er, yes, Aayla my love?" he asked, being especially sweet in the hopes of heading whatever this was off while sending feelings of concern and love through their link.

Going by the flush that came to Aayla's cheeks it worked somewhat, but she still poked him in the sternum with a hard finger, emphasizing her words. "Remember…to…put…the…toilet…seat…up!"

Another, far more pleasant moment occurred the first time that they exchanged massages.

The girls had often done this back on the _Explorer,_ and Harry was interested to learn. Aayla went first. With Harry laying down on his stomach, she sat on his legs, leaning forward, her lekku dangling to either side of him as she worked on his back after a long day of training. Her nimble fingers sought out knots and eased them out, first along his lower back, then higher up. She then worked on his shoulders and neck, her fingers cool on Harry's bare neck, the first skin on skin contact of the massage.

In return Aayla shivered, feeling an echo of what Harry was feeling as he leaned back in her grip, letting out a little groan of pleasure under her touch and turning his head to the side. "Force, Aayla, that feels good…"

"I know, Harry. I can sort of feel it too." Aayla bit her lip lightly as she began to put more pressure into her massage, working out the kinks in Harry's shoulders harder than before. This caused the echo of the feeling to affect her even more, and her lekku twitched.

This caught Harry's attention, and his hand reached slightly back, his fingers lightly running up and down the tip of the lekku. Aayla gasped, actually humping her hips against the back of Harry's legs as she gasped. "Oooh, that felt good! Why the heck? I remember some of the other girls touching my lekku, and they never felt that good before…"

Aayla tried to concentrate through the sudden haze of pleasure enough to bring what she knew about her race's biology to mind, finally getting it after a moment. While normally serving as enhanced memory receptors and no more sensitive than an arm or leg, lekku could become much more so during sexual contact when the body was flooded with her people's equivalent of estrogen or testosterone. The sensitivity varied from individual to individual, as did the amount of endorphins needed.

"Mph, and the connection between us is definitely heightening the effect," Harry mused, his fingers still working over her lekku. This was causing both of them to react, Aayla far more so, of course, but Harry was feeling both the echo from Aayla and Aayla's continued work on his shoulders, back, and neck. Her massage had turned from almost clinical to definitely sensual by this point.

Realizing what was going on and knowing via their bond they weren't quite ready to go that far, Harry let his hand fall from her lekku, and Aayla began to regain control of herself. Laughing, she leaned down, kissing Harry's neck right below the hairline. "Thanks, Harry, but let's leave that kind of thing for later, hmm?"

Turning around underneath her, Harry gently pulled Aayla into a close-mouthed kiss, before switching positions with her as he sent through their link, _"you're up, love."_

Aayla giggled and lay down next to Harry as he moved to kneel on the bed beside her, stretching like a feline in place as she waited for Harry to begin. A sudden feeling of challenge, desire, and a wish to tease hit her through the link and she tried to roll away only for Harry to place his hands palm open on her back. "Now, let's see if you can keep that attitude, Aayla…"

But eventually the rest of the universe had to intrude into Master Dooku's mansion. On the same day Padme discovered that several thousand of her people had been sold into slavery rather than killed, Quinlan and Komari's investigation ended, and Quinlan returned to Sorenno.

Aayla looked up from her lightsaber instruction with Master Dooku, stepping back and turning off her lightsaber. Dooku paused, then turned toward the young Jedi Knight making his way across the grounds of his mansion's garden. "We will talk about why it is never a good idea to assume combat will end like that later. I would have thought better of you, Padawan Secura. Greetings, Knight Vos. You have returned successfully?"

"We think so. I actually returned this morning, but Komari and I have been going over the information ever since. We think we know what is going on now," the younger man replied.

Something about the way her master said Komari's name made Aayla's metaphorical ears twitch as he came across the lawn towards where she and Master Dooku had been sparring. To one side Master Dooku had Harry working on his footwork on uneven terrain while combating attacks from multiple angles. To do this the Jedi Master had created a series of five hundred small rocks with equally small repulsor emitters on their bases.

Harry too had stopped, and he bowed to Quinlan as the knight addressed Dooku. "We will have a presentation prepared for the Council of Counts this evening, if you could call a session for us, Master Dooku?"

"Now you have me interested, young Vos," Dooku mused, nodding his head. "I will do so."

Then he looked back at Harry. "Did I tell you to stop?" he asked mildly. With the touch of a button on a remote control in his hand, Dooku caused the rocks underneath Harry to shake, rise, and twitch this way and that. "Excuse me a moment," Dooku said to Quinlan, before turning back to Harry, shouting instructions. "Reach out with the Force! Determine where the ground will be and place your feet in such a way that your feet are simply there. Do not allow the ground to dictate your movements, and do not try to use your limited physical perception to guide your movements. The Force can help you dictate the flow of the battle under the control of your mind."

"Ye, YEEEES, Master!" Harry shouted, his words nearly rising into a shout as the two stones he had been standing on suddenly flew in two different directions pulling his legs apart. Still, thanks to his ever-increasing training in Force Precognition, he was able to push off of one, then use the other to leap to a third.

Pulling off his Jedi robes, Quinlan tossed them to one side, activating his lightsaber. "Would you mind if I took over my padawan's training, Master Dooku? I need to work off some energy."

Dooku nodded, and moved over to watch Harry as Lily and Fay came out of the mansion, having been working on a project of their own.

"Work off some energy?" Aayla quipped, bringing up her twin lightsabers in a cross guard. "Is there any specific reason for that, Master?" she asked teasingly, watching for a reaction. Both her empathy and her feminine instincts were telling her something here…

Quinlan didn't rise to the bait, however, merely cocking an expressive eyebrow at her. "Are you just going to stand there all day, or are you going to actually attack, padawan?"

Her lips twitching, Aayla sighed and did so, and the training continued throughout the day.

That evening the Counts' Council met once more, gathered in their council room with their heirs and some Sorenno Security Fleet personnel who were involved in enlarging the starship fighter program. That project hadn't gone forward very far yet, but they had gathered a large cadre of dedicated starfighters from their existing fleet both to create the first few starfighter divisions and to create a cadre of trainers for further enlargement. Moreover the designers were already hard at work on a locally designed starfighter.

When everyone was seated, including the counts and their heirs/advisors, Komari and Quinlan moved around the table, nodding at them all. "Ladies and gentle beings, I am Jedi Knight Quinlan Vos, and this is Jedi Knight Komari Vosa. The two of us were placed in charge of an ongoing investigation into the pirate crisis infesting this sector and its neighbors, which included an attack on Sorenno itself a while back."

"We know that," count Luther grumped. "I've lost two more ships since our last discussion, or rather one of them had been lost before that, and only now has the report gotten back to me. But anyway, get to the point."

"I will do so, Count Luther," said Quinlan calmly. "I would first, however, like to make certain that credit goes where it is due. Once I ascertained their trustworthiness I was able to work with a few investigators on each planet. A few of them had already looked into much of what the two of us put together. They just didn't have enough of the pieces to see the whole jigsaw puzzle.

"What we have here is a very large if diffuse operation being run from multiple angles, but we think only one mind."

"Organized crime?" one of the other counts interrupted. "Black Sun returned in full force, then?"

"No, this operation isn't as subtle as they were, nor is it as large. I have dealt with Black Sun fragments and before that the Black Sun itself," Quinlan answered assertively, shaking his head, setting his lank, black hair to sway. "This operation has some of the earmarks of their work and is probably being run by another fragment, but we don't have enough information to point to a specific person or individual just yet."

After that Komari took up the tale. At her direction a holographic screen lit up from the table, growing in size until everyone in the room could see it.

As she did, Vos sent a nod to Dooku, who in turn nodded slightly to Fay. The two of them and the two padawans began to use the Force to search out any jumps in concern or fear in those around them, which they would continue to do throughout the discussion. In this manner they would be on the lookout for spies, since they already knew the opponents, whoever they were, had to have contacts in the systems they raided, including Sorenno.

"The first clue that something much larger than we had thought was going on, with, as Knight Vos said, multiple parts, was that ships without insurance from this system and its neighbors came under attack, while the ships with insurance purchased there, while attacked, were protected by either the defense forces of the sector, being with them already in convoy, or appearing suddenly to save them," Komari began, highlighting the systems involved on the galactic map. "So we looked for connections between the various insurance companies on those planets and came up with several of them. All of them are owned by private individuals whose pasts are completely blank. We can assume, therefore, that they are dummy companies."

"Protection rackets, really? How droll," Dooku murmured even as he leaned back thoughtfully in his chair.

"Yes, but it goes further than that, **much** further. Privateers from that sector do indeed protect the ships in that sector, but after a suggestion from Knight Vos some of the investigators on the planets they use as bases pulled their flight logs. When they were out on patrols unseen by any, they could have been involved in these attacks…"

At her command the map changed once more, highlighting several of the attacks in purple for a moment. Then the image changed to various lists of names, one name on one side followed by dozens of others next to it. "These attacks were always the most violent, leaving no survivors who could identify them."

"Which would include my people," Luther growled, leaning his head forward. "So we really are dealing with a rogue sector fleet? A fleet answering to someone above and beyond their own leaders?"

"Calling it a sector fleet is a bit of a misnomer," Quinlan said cautiously, taking over the screen for a moment. Six cruisers the size of a Consular class popped up, followed by an even dozen converted freighters and a single squad of mixed UGLY and CloakShape starfighters. Then the ships' images changed, becoming whatever everyone could guess were patrol routes. Several of them overlapped each purple dot.

"They aren't that powerful a group, a sector flotilla or squadron would be a better description. But…yes. The evidence against them is particularly damning. This shows the flight plans of the ships and how they could intersect the locations of the various attacks.

"However, these attacks have also served to cover something else. The violence of them, leaving no survivors like that, covered the fact that in other attacks other pirates took prisoners. That is the second aspect of this pirate campaign, a massive slave taking operation," Quinlan finished bluntly.

"What?" said one the counts, sitting up abruptly as did the others in the room save Aayla, whose eyes narrowed dangerously. "Surely someone would have noticed people were disappearing."

"Here we run into the first evidence that someone in the Holonet Relay System is on the take," Komari said heavily. "Reports were sent from the star systems where these attacks came from to the sector capitals, which sent them all off to Coruscant. But many of the initial reports have disappeared somewhere in the HRS relay, and what few reports have been sent on to Coruscant are simply gone."

Looking on as the map changed once more, Dooku slowly nodded. "And because all these attacks occur on the edges of the sector, the sector governors would be leery of following up on them on their own, especially if they didn't understand the size of the problem…"

"Exactly, Master Dooku."

"How do we know the crews attacked were taken rather than killed?" asked one of the starfighter pilots.

"Unlike the wreckage left behind by the rouge privateers, there were a distinct lack of body parts and other remains in the wreckage of these attacks," Quinlan said, shaking his head. "I investigated several of the wrecks myself. There were no biological remains."

"The next bit of information was very much a needle in a haystack sort of thing. Only by combining the manifests of every ship did we get this clue." Once more Komari took up the tale, the image of the map disappearing into dozens, then hundreds of ship manifests. A moment later most of the manifests highlighted yellow, then a few lines on each highlighted red. They began to enlarge in turn, allowing each line to be read easily.

After the last line finished enlarging one of the starfighter pilots hissed, and Aayla's eyes narrowed once more. Sensing Harry's confusion she reached out through their bond to explain. "It's called a distributed energy emitter, Harry. It's one of the most important parts for starfighters. The part is also used on a lot of commercial vehicles, but combine it with the rest you see and they might be building or refurbishing starfighter or freighters."

"Bits of parts here, bits of parts there have disappeared from those ships and not been seen in the local black markets," Quinlan said, shaking his head. "I looked particularly closely, since these parts would have been very decent sources of money. Alone, none of these supplies are enough to raise concern, but put together they paint a bad picture."

That list was replaced by a blue one, most of the parts on it naming things Harry recognized. T _hey could be part of putting together primitive weapons systems, and those are a lot of energy cells, and oh my word, enough gas magazines for a small army._ Another list was more mundane, but the number of supplies on it was worrisome. _Parts needed to create or maintain a space station or hazardous environment dome, and a lot of them too._

"What we have here is someone organizing a slaving ring on a scale that is without precedent to my knowledge, and which might or might not be building up a private army," Komari finished bluntly.

"So what are we going to do about it?" said one of the starfighter pilots, equally bluntly. "While we now know what's going on, that doesn't really give us many options to deal with the real source of this plot."

"We can try to discover who was blocking the reports from getting to the Senate," Quinlan said hesitantly. "But we would need Senate approval to pull the relay reports, which is just not going to happen soon, and probably not without our doing so getting back to whoever is involved. We're talking about trillions upon trillions worth of material and slaves, and racketeering money here."

"We could move against the privateers, that is, the defense force involved, couldn't we?" Harry asked from where he sat in the far back of the room. "If we lay the evidence of their wrongdoing in front of their political leaders, at least we can force the parent governments to disavow them, and then we can move against them physically with the backing of whatever other forces that the Daedalus sector has available."

"No. Doing so might warn them just like going after their spy in the relay. I'm afraid if we don't want the privateers, as you put it, to get away, we will have to act directly against them. And doing that will no doubt warn whatever group is organizing all this that we are on to them," Dooku replied.

The older man was staring at the galactic map so hard that Lily had the rather whimsical thought that he might be trying to burn it away with his mind. _Of course, as a Jedi, he might be able to do that with training._ "Agreed, if you act against any one part of this scheme, the mind guiding it will get away. We need some way to trace this back to the main base or whatever it is, staging ground, maybe?" Lily said aloud, her voice unheard by all but the Force sensitives.

Harry looked up at her, then pulled out a datapad, typing out a quick message. "Could we use a Point Me technique?" That Force technique allowed you to find things by pointing you in the direction it lay, like a compass. "If we used triangulation…"

"Harry, you know that technique only works on items that are on the same planet you are." It might actually have been more directly distance related than that, but the few times they had tested it in space it hadn't worked. "Besides, we don't know enough about whoever is behind this to really form the spell."

"We could use the parts they stole, right? Use the manifest to find the exact serial number. And I still say it's a power requirement, not an inherent limitation," Harry returned, typing quickly as he tried to keep a pout off his face.

Having listened to this, Fay smiled, leaning in and whispering in Harry's ear, causing him to flush and duck away slightly as Aayla giggled under her breath on his other side. "Forgive me, Harry, but I much prefer you awake and conscious rather than unconscious and Force exhausted. I tried that technique once, remember, and if I cannot form the technique through the background of the rest of the Force, you would have scant luck trying to brute force it through."

Watching his mother's ghost nod firmly and feeling Aayla's agreement, Harry dropped the subject. A second later he turned to Aayla as he felt a sudden spike of concentration through their link. "What is it?"

Aayla shook her head. _"Just a second Harry… I think…"_

The two padawans tuned back to the main conversation as most of the counts were nodding at something one of the starfighter commanders had said. "Now that's a not bad idea," said one of the other counts. "It will certainly cut down on the time necessary to arm our new starfighter corps. And if we send our pilots to Kuat where they can take personal charge of those Delta 6s and CloakShapes we purchased it gives us a force already moving and out of sight of whatever spies they might have here. But that still doesn't answer the main problem of where to point them," he continued, scowling. "We keep coming back to the point of not knowing where they are based."

"I think I might have an idea…" Aayla said aloud, and all eyes turned to the young Rutian Twi'lek. Any other young woman might have felt self-conscious at that, but Aayla was a Jedi padawan and wouldn't have even understood why she should.

Aayla had been looking at the list of things this pirate group had stolen and noticed something missing that, given the rest of what they had stolen, made little sense. "There is one important item that's missing here: food. I understand that that's not a big deal, but surely if this group was getting food from an agrarian planet we would have heard rumors or seen evidence about it by now. And that third list points to them working from a hostile environment, so it's really doubtful they could be growing their own."

"True, the prefabs and other things of that nature, and the air filters in particular, point to the base being on a gas planet or a moon with no atmosphere," Quinlan said with a nod of approval at his padawan.

"There was actually a report I read today from Nez Peron about several Nabooan transports showing up on the open market. Given the events on Naboo that grabbed my contact's attention," he went on thoughtfully, his eyes lighting up suddenly with eagerness. "And Naboo **is** known as a major exporter of foodstuffs. But if they're already selling the ships, those ships might have transported directly from the planet to the target we're seeking..."

Harry exchanged a glance with Aayla, then looked towards Master Dooku and the other Jedi. "Well, we do know someone we can get in touch with on that planet…"

 **OOOOOOO**

While she could handle the general day to day duties of her position and even the added workload of leading her planet in recovering from its recent occupation, Padme was slowly becoming unraveled due to lack of sleep and guilt: guilt caused by knowing that her people had been taken into slavery while she had run away. Every time she tried to close her eyes for the brief spats of sleep her workload allowed, the guilt would come back to haunt her, making her dreams things of horror.

Padme had hoped against hope that her citizens had simply been stored elsewhere in the system, in the few large asteroid mining complexes, until one of the Lucrehulks could be freed to take them away en masse. This had proven a false hope. Not only had they not been stored there, but the small flotillas had been recorded by the Lucrehulks in orbit as jumping out into hyperspace well within their sensor range.

Before leaving for Coruscant, Master Piell had a little more luck than Obi-Wan had in his search for the slaves in his own interrogation of the prisoners. In fact the Lannik had trouble stopping the deluge of information once the Neimoidian prisoners were told why he was after it. It turned out that Captain-owner Seve Crass, which was the individual's name, was not very well thought of by the other Neimoidians. It was known that he was a xenophobe of the first order, arrogant even by their people's standards, and also prone to dirty deals.

None of that, though, had allowed them to find Crass. He was not among the prisoners, and no one knew where he could be now, since he obviously had his own hyperspace capable ship. Piell, Padme, and Obi-Wan had decided not to put out a bulletin about the man just in case doing so would warn him off. Piell had promised to head to Neimodia itself to search for the man after dropping off Nute Gunray for his trial.

The police's follow on investigations also made for grim reading, adding to Padme's guilt and growing sense of despair. Several hundred tons of food had been stolen as well, which would impact the planet's economy going forward due to needing to pay off the planets they had trade agreements with. Whoever had taken Padme's people had sifted through them with a fine-toothed comb. The men who were taken were all engineers or technicians, with a smattering of cooks for some reason. The women were all attractive, perfect, as ones of her maids put it, slave material. And the children…

By the Force, the children disturbed her the most. Obi-Wan had told her that slavers actually preferred to kidnap children, because then they could be raised into the society of slavery. They could be raised to believe that they were worthless and powerless, so they didn't even think of rebelling or even disobeying.

"But Anakin didn't believe he was worthless, and he certainly wasn't beaten down!" Padme had exploded, her distress obvious.

"For all that he might protest it, Anakin had a somewhat decent life in comparison to the slaves raised into servitude on many planets. He was a son of a slave to a single merchant. He was not one of a thousand and prized just as little, nor was he ever in danger of being sold once his technical aptitude showed itself. I will not say he had an easy life. He did not. But his master was not cruel to him needlessly, nor saw any need to utterly break his spirit."

The grim way Obi-Wan had spoken of slavery made Padme shiver. He had not personally dealt with any of the large-scale slaving rings out there, but he knew of planets in the Outer Rim where slavery was the bedrock of the local economy, a local **working** economy on a global scale, which was entirely different from Tatooine. _And that is the hell my people are being taken towards or might already be experiencing. And I am powerless to stop it!_

A gentle hand touched her clenched fist, and Padme blinked, coming out of her anger induced stupor for a moment to watch one of her maids pull her fingers slowly apart and pull out the small cup of water that she had been trying to crush in her grip. "Those are expensive, Padme," said Sabe teasingly. "I don't think the castle's majordomo would appreciate you destroying his fine crystalware, especially since it survived the occupation in one piece."

Padme smiled wanly. "I suppose not, but I really… I know it is beneath my position and serves no purpose, but I would really like to hit something right now! I feel so, so **powerless**! We have those ships in orbit. We have a full complement of starfighters once again. We could even figure out how to turn those droids on, I suppose. But we don't have a target for them! Our people are gone, and there is no trail we can follow!"

"Where is Master Kenobi?" asked the other girl, placing the cup on a nearby table and coming back to clasp Padme's hands.

"Meditating. He said he's trying to use the Force to find the trail, but I don't know if he'll have any luck. The vagaries of the Force are a closed book to me."

Sabe nodded slowly, frowning thoughtfully. She wished she could help her friend and queen, but at the moment there was little any of them could do. Once a ship entered hyperspace, unless you were lucky enough to get a reading of its heading as it was entering hyperspace, you would never be able to find it again. And the easiest way to throw off something like that was to take a short jump and then change your heading to an entirely different direction. Even perfectly legitimate merchants did that occasionally to throw off pirates. Someone looking to sell slaves like this would have every reason to hide.

"Your Majesty," said a new voice, and the two young girls turned to the doorway where another of Padme's handmaidens was standing.

"Yes, Eirtae?" Padme asked.

"There is a call for you coming in from Sorenno." Blinking in surprise, Padme frowned for a moment, but then her frown gradually turned into a smile. "Padawans Potter and Aayla, I suppose?"

"Both of them and others, my lady. Master Fay, Master Dooku, and Master Vos, along with a fourth Jedi I do not recognize."

 _Interesting. Perhaps this is at least something that can take my mind off our current troubles._ With that thought Padme gestured to a nearby desk. "Send the signal to here, please." With the Holonet receiver set up in the palace itself, it was a simple matter to link into the Holonet from anywhere within its environs.

A moment later the holographic screen came online, showing the Jedi sitting around a room on the other end. Padme smiled lightly, her eyes flicking over the holographic images above it for a moment before resting on Aayla and Harry even as she addressed the group as a whole. "Masters Jedi, is this a social call or a professional one?"

"You look like you need it to be a social one," said Aayla promptly, while Master Fay nodded her head looking through the pickup on Serenno at the image of the queen. Padme idly wondered how bad she looked if her exhaustion and emotional turmoil could come through a hyperspace signal so easily. "Is cleaning up after the occupation so arduous, or is there something else going on?"

"You might say that," Padme said, her smile of welcome turning somewhat wan. "The actual cleanup of the occupation is going well. Most of the occupation wasn't actually that arduous for my people. However, hidden underneath that was…there's no other way of putting it, a kidnapping ring of epic proportions. We have discovered that at least 11,000 of my people are missing. We have recordings of them being forced to board ships of both Nabooan and Neimoidian design, and then we have the data of their first hyperspace out-point, but that's about all. We have no other leads. Master Kenobi is trying to use the Force to figure out where they could've been taken, but I don't think he's having much luck. It's, it's making me feel helpless, and I don't like it."

"Perfectly understandable," said Master Dooku, his formal tones oddly soothing as he cut in before either of the youngsters could reply. "And yet that sounds as if you might have the other string of an issue we here on Sorenno are dealing with. You say you have the heading for these ships' initial hyperspace jump?"

"Yes," Padme said quickly, hope rising from within her. "Master Kenobi and my own security forces were able to pull up logs of the flotillas' heading from one of the Lucrehulk classes we captured. Why? What is going on at your end?"

"We think that your mass slavery issue is part and parcel of pirate activity in the Da'Arstan sector and its neighbors. It would take too long to explain all of our evidence to that effect, in particular over the Holonet. But suffice it to say we know what's going on, but need to find the mind behind it. If this convoy of ships you mentioned were involved, and we think they are, it fits in with some of what we've seen. There is a distinct possibility that they might have eventually jumped to the headquarters of whatever is going on. In that case, we might be able to trace them straight there."

"We'll be arriving on Naboo by this time tomorrow. If you could have Obi-Wan prepare a copy of those coordinates and a meditation room, that will be most helpful," Master Fay said.

"We'll do our best to get your people back, Padme," Harry said earnestly, leaning forward, and Padme could imagine his expressive eyes glinting with both concern and determination all too easily.

"But it is imperative that you don't tell anyone," Knight Vos cautioned, cutting in quickly. "We think this group has numerous contacts in the HPC and elsewhere. Their hands might be in a lot of important people's pockets, so to speak."

"That is a very descriptive phrase. Even if I had no idea what it meant beforehand, the meaning certainly comes through," Padme said, chuckling a little.

The older Jedi bowed out of the pickup at that point, having things they had to organize for this operation, which left Aayla and Harry looking into the pickup at Padme. She sighed faintly, leaning back as if a weight had been removed from her shoulders. "Thank you for this," she said sincerely. "Even if this is but a faint hope, a faint hope is better than the depression I've been dealing with on this issue. The feeling of hopelessness is all consuming…"

"You're never hopeless if you have friends," Harry said, looking over at Aayla who grinned and pushed his shoulder lightly.

"Ignore him," she said into the pickup. "He has a saving people thing, especially a saving maiden thing."

"Well, I cannot deny that this princess at least needs some rescuing at the moment. But what else have you been up to?" she asked, eager to talk to someone not connected with the government or her current issues here on Naboo at present, just to have a bit of a break from everything, really.

Realizing this, Aayla immediately took up the conversation, chattering on about their training and lightsabers, and then hinting at what she thought might be going on with her master and Knight Vosa.

Harry interjected a few times, trying to explain to Aayla that just because their relationship/bond had been given a limited okay by the Council didn't mean that anyone else was willing to face their official ire and have an actual relationship. "You don't know that!" Aayla said huffily, pushing his shoulder again.

"No, I kind of do…" Harry said snarkily, and Padme chuckled, feeling her cares and worries slowly disappear as she talked to her friends.

 **OOOOOOO**

While the two youngsters were talking with their friend, the others went about the various tasks they needed to do to prepare for an operation of this size. Quinlan was procuring a ship for the Jedi, while Komari was contacting the local starfighters, making certain the pilots chosen to form the nucleus of the expanded starfighter corps were ready to leave for Kuat instantly. Now that they had a target, as had been discussed in the meeting earlier that day, instead of returning from Kuat with their starfighters these men and women would instead perform various military exercises before returning for an aerial parade over the capitol city.

Their logbooks would be changed to reflect this, and indeed, even the starfighter pilots themselves were told this was going to occur. What none of them knew was that the Jedi, Vosa in this case, would meet them at their first layover out of Kuat, and then from there they would head to Naboo.

While his former padawan worked on that aspect of the mission, Count Dooku contacted a friend in the Republic to get them some more ship-type backup. A friend who has certainly bettered himself since the last time they had talked. "Congratulations on your recent elevation, Chancellor Palpatine," Dooku said, smiling slightly as the pickup began to record.

The man on the other side of the recording smiled as well. "Thank you. Though if I had known exactly how much paperwork I would have to do as Chancellor I'm not certain I would've acceded to the nomination. I don't think I've left my office since returning from Naboo two nights ago, and I am certain that my bloodstream has been replaced by caffeine by this point."

"Such are the joys of bureaucracy," Dooku said with a slightly wider smile, which disappeared as he got down to business. "We have a lead on an…issue…that may grow into a very large one, one that I have to refuse to discuss on a Holonet relay, because there is evidence to suggest that our target group has somehow suborned people in the relay systems."

"That is a very harsh charge given that neutrality is part of the HRS's charter," the Chancellor said slowly, leaning back in his chair in the pickup, his hands coming up to rest on the table in front of them in a pyramid as he tapped his fingertips together. "Indeed, the very idea would cut at the heart of one of the pillars of the Republic: that information and news, while censored or given spin, will at least be accurate in some fashion. You have evidence, I presume?"

"Not evidence against an individual, but evidence of the fact of duplicity, yes. However, we might also be producing a lead to the source of this pustule, but that will require naval aid to lance. As such I need a force that you can free up with no one the wiser."

"That narrows down the choices tremendously, my friend, and you have no idea about the amount of paperwork or clearances I would need to send even a small flotilla out from one of the Ord system patrol fleets. Still…it is possible," Palpatine mused. "The sector fleet that I called in to deal with Naboo's embargo by the TF has remained in that sector, performing various anti-piracy training exercises. I could redirect a squadron of cruisers, though questions would be asked if we have nothing to show for it."

"That will be perfect in many ways. Again, I don't want to give out too many details, but we will be basing our chase of this group out of Naboo."

"I see." Inside Sidious was thinking hard, wondering what this was about, but the inclusion of Naboo gave him a clu _e. The slaves, they found a way to trace them, and it's led into a much larger issue. Could it be connected to the various piracy activities out there that are not under my or Plagueis's control?_

Sidious and Plagueis had both known that there was some other player in the game out there, but hadn't really cared because their activities had given their own, far more clandestine activities significant cover. Now that the game seemed to be up on whoever it was, Sidious would remove some of his tools from the area, and this action could be used to further cover that exodus. Further, any action launched from Serenno against the privateers who were actually acting as pirates out there could be used to sow discord and bad feeling between the two sectors, something that could be used to good effect down the line.

 _And on the other side of the scale, working with the Jedi on this will show that I am a friend of the Jedi, allowing me to further worm my way into their confidence and let me keep on acting as a friend to Dooku, even if he is no longer even close to falling into my earlier designs for him. It will also win me both more respect in the Senate for my swift action, and further aid to my my public stance of being an "ethical" individual who isn't afraid to act. Yes, I don't see a downside to this._

Aloud he said, "Very well my friend, I will trust you on this." He typed something in on his desktop computer, his fingers disappearing out of view of the bottom of the pickup, and a series of letters and numbers flashed on the screen over his image. "That is the communication line to the cruiser squad in question. It will prove you have my approval to abscond with them from the rest of the fleet for up to a week's time."

"Thank you my friend. You won't regret it."

"I'm sure I won't, my friend," Palpatine replied, nodding his head. After the connection cut off Sidious smiled evilly, leaning back in his chair as he let his mask fall away for a brief moment. "I'm sure I won't."

 **OOOOOOO**

True to their word, the group of Jedi arrived on Naboo early the next day and were greeted by Obi-Wan and Padme as clandestinely as could be contrived, which unfortunately wasn't very much. "I'm sorry the spaceport controller wouldn't let you down without calling the palace over the official channels, but after the invasion they're all rather jumpy about unscheduled arrivals. I hope that won't be enough to tip off our enemies that you are on the case, as it were, but I can't promise that."

"Connecting our presence to our purpose should be quite impossible," Master Fay said, smiling lightly at the young woman as Lily looked over her shoulders, causing Obi-Wan to start in surprise, not having been around her before. "You're looking much better than you did over the Holonet, my dear. Much less pasty…" she teased.

"Yes, well, that isn't saying much now, is it?" Padme quipped. Unlike when they talked over the Holonet, Padme was not wearing her formal garb. Indeed, she was posing as one of her own handmaids out on an errand at present, with the others running interference for her so she could meet the Jedi. And instead of leading them up to the reception area, she led them into a small unused room where they could talk informally.

"And now that we have gotten the moment of levity over with, what do you need from me to retrieve my people?" Padme asked intently as she sat down, the girl disappearing, subsumed by the worried queen.

"I will require the heading of the initial jump of this small flotilla, and then a place to meditate. Master Obi-Wan and Master Dooku may join me in this, but quiet and that first step will be all important," Fay replied, matching Padme's seriousness with her own.

"Meanwhile, we will require food and a ship large enough to rotate a group of starfighter pilots through to rest after their journey to the rally point. We could also use any actual aid you can lend us from your starfighter force and the lift capacity to transport your people home. Are your starfighters hyperspace capable?" Dooku asked.

Padme nodded, but before she could speak Lily broke in, causing all the Jedi to look up to where she hovered beside her son. "Actually, there is one aspect of this operation none of us have talked about yet."

Across from Lily, Padme looked confused for a moment before sighing and doing the same. "This whole not seeing you can get rather old with repetition, Mistress Lily."

"Sorry, dear," Lily said, having seen Padme's expression, which Harry dutifully relayed, causing Padme to roll her eyes, indicating with one hand that they should just get on with things. Lily did so, looking around at the Jedi. "Does this Republic fleet have a ground force as well?"

For a moment the Jedi fell silent, then all of them, even Dooku, groaned. Dooku's hand came up to smack his forehead. "How could we have missed that!? Of course! We Jedi might be assault troops, but we can't be everywhere, and we certainly are not built to hold large swaths of area."

"You will also need a large medical corps ready to follow up whatever breach you make to see to the slaves you find, if nothing else," Lily went. "Back on Tatooine most of the slaves had those obedience chips installed, the ones that would explode if they did anything their master didn't like or traveled too far from him. Won't we want to remove those as quickly as possible?"

"That makes far too much sense for us to ignore," Quinlan muttered ruefully while Harry relayed what Lily had said. "However, doing so while in a combat environment would be impossible."

"I agree on that point, but I think we can actually help there. I have several thousand doctors who are rated for that kind of surgery worldwide, and you said you would need lift capacity to transport the slaves back home?" Padme asked with a faint smile. "I just happen to have four Lucrehulk super-mammoth cargo ships in my possession. One of those should do nicely, don't you think? We might not be able to fight with the ship, we don't have enough trained crew, but getting it to where you want will be simple enough."

"As for a landing force, I think I know where we can go get one of those," Dooku said, stroking the end of his well-manicured beard thoughtfully for a moment. "Even better, I know that at least on their end there won't be any leak…"

The other Jedi looked at him quizzically, and Dooku smiled faintly. "Let me keep it a secret until they actually arrive, please. But for now, could I make use of your Holonet, Padme?"

"Of course. I'll show you to a room where you can connect to it. Master Obi-Wan, I believe you've already collected the data you'll need for the…group meditation or whatever it is you call it. You could also use your room for that meditation."

Obi-Wan nodded and led the way out the door, with Master Fay and Quinlan following him.

 **OOOOOOO**

Despite most Jedi having been taught to reach out to the Force in the same manner, a lot of Jedi developed small, minute differences in the way they interacted with the Force. Master Fay was no exception, though she was a more extreme sort of exception to that rule than most. Her method of asking the Force for guidance was very, **very** different.

Most Jedi searched the Force for the answers they were looking for, which was somewhat harder than her method, though you didn't run into as many issues with interpreting the information that came your way. Master Fay, however, sent her consciousness out into the Force, like a fisherman using a fishing line. The answer, the fish in this analogy, would come to her. Whereas with most Jedi, they were the fish trying to hunt for a single bit of information sailing past them in the Force.

The Veil was making both methods far harder. Every month that went past Fay could feel the darkness swirling, slowly shutting down even her ability to see the future. She could still look into the future a few months ahead, but everything beyond that was a black morass. Yet there were even hints even now that the darkness could be turned back. She clung to them at times when she was trying to see the future.

But right now Fay wasn't interested in the future. She was interested in the present, and discerning a specific bit, or rather specific bits, of information. This called for a slight change in Fay's methodology. Rather than simply sending her thoughts out like a fishing line, she tried to control where the fishing line went. Fay's normally open mind shut down to all but that particular bit of information.

Slowly Fay found the information she was looking for. Her hands, which had been perched over a clipboard in her lap, began to move of their own volition. She wrote down the information, a series of plotted headings that the flotilla had taken after the initial jump, and then Fay found information about the destination, as much as she could find.

The location of their target was a system with brown dwarf star. Fay could see it clearly in her mind, the image coming closer as her mind journeyed into the star system. It should have been lifeless, but quixotically the system contained a few scattered planetoids. They were tiny things by most standards, but they were there.

As Fay's perception came closer to one of them under the control of the Force rather than herself, she saw several major bio-domes erected on its surface. Above them was a star fortress, a large space station built to defend the installation below. In the distance she could see the glimmering of starships moving around the planet, their forms unseen for now, but there were a lot of them.

Opening her eyes, Master Fay looked at Vos and Obi-Wan, who had come out of their own entrances moments ago and had been looking at her ever since. Obi-Wan shook his head slowly, awed by the other Master's abilities. Master Fay looked down at the image, scowling a little. "I could wish that my ability with the Force lent me an ability with pen and paper, but such is not the case."

"At least your writing is neat," said Quinlan dryly, smiling at the older woman. "We have a target then. I will look through the Jedi archives of this sector, see if I can figure out where this system is located. If we don't have to follow the entire route, we could save quite a bit of time..."

 **OOOOOOO**

About a day and a half later Harry and the others meetup with the Kuat bought and Sorenno citizen flown starfighters and the cruiser squad the Chancellor had seconded to their command. With that fleet also came four large transport vessels, larger than the cruisers but much smaller than the Lucrehulk, so small they looked as if they could fit into the larger ship. Dooku was not so foolish as to launch an operation of this size and possible complexity without briefing his unit commanders.

At present Master Dooku was using the Lucrehulk as his flagship, though he would change to one of the cruisers for the actual attack. It was the only ship they had which had a large enough briefing room for all the disparate leaders, though at first Harry hadn't realized why that was the case. He got an idea when over a dozen large, furry non-humans walked down the halls of the large transport vessels.

He blinked, cocking his head thoughtfully as he stared at them as they marched up to shake hands with Dooku. "These would be Wookies, correct? I've heard of them, though I've never seen one in the flesh before."

Fay nodded, smiling slightly. "I haven't ever dealt with them in a group like this before, though I had a fascinating discussion with a Wookie Master by the name of Tyvokka at one point a hundred years or so ago. I was saddened to hear of his death."

One of the larger, older looking Wookies with fur going silver in spots clasped forearms with Master Dooku, saying something in his own language. Harry reached out with the Force, translating the words just a little too slowly to get the first few sentences. "/…and we are happy to lend you some aid in this. Slaving scum should be wiped out from the entire Republic, and any time we can help that happen we will!/"

"On that we are agreed. Indeed, this will not be our first mission again slavers in the past few weeks. You might not have heard as yet, but Jabba the Hutt met his end when he got in the way of a retrieval mission of ours," Dooku said dryly. "We offered him a way out, of course, but I can't say we were saddened by the necessity of his death."

The Wookie laughed, clapping Dooku on the shoulder hard enough to stagger the older man, then he gestured to his fellows, introducing the first seven Wookies as clan or family leaders. The words had an odd connotation in Harry's mind: it was the same word spoken several times, but the meaning his Force technique translated it to was slightly different each time. _"That's the trouble with Force translation. You get an accurate translation, but not the social meaning of some of the words. At least, I don't. Are you getting anything, Aayla?"_ Harry asked through their link.

"Nothing more than you are," Aayla said, looking at the Wookies in fascination. _"They're supposed to be super strong, you know. Not actually very warlike at the societal level, but then they don't have to be given how strong and nasty they can be in a fight."_

" _I certainly wouldn't want to fight them,"_ Harry returned fervently.

Lily too was looking at the aliens in fascination, though that wasn't exactly a first. She always looked at aliens with fascination. It was one aspect of being in a new dimension she had yet to get used to.

Moments later the teens were sitting down with everyone else in the briefing room, watching as the older Jedi walked through a presentation on the mission. After talking about the background of the mission, Dooku went on to explain what Master Fay had sensed through the Force of their target. "…so we will undoubtedly meet space-based interference with this mission. As such, we need a plan of attack from the get go."

Harry listened intently for a few moments while the Wookies, cruiser captains, and starfighter pilots all debated, frowning as he realized that none of them had any better suggestions than simply coming out of hyperspace near enough to the planet to get a drop on their enemies. That was okay, but what if the enemies were ready for them? What if that star fortress had its shield up?

Harry lips pursed as he stared at the holographic screen, leaning back and shaking his head. _There just has to be a better way of doing rhis kind of thing. Hyperspace and the ability to jump in and out is such a tremendous tactical and strategic tool, but it doesn't seem to be being used very well a lot of the time._

Thanks to Master Dooku, Harry had read a lot about different fleet operations in the last thousand years and even in the New Sith Wars. Few and far between was a phrase that sprung to mind to describe the records from that time, but there was just something about them that bothered him: they were too uniform, too brute force versus brute force. There were exceptions to the rule, but for the most part, one fleet would hyperspace in and attack and succeed or be driven off, with little variation in the approach.

As he thought that, Aayla bumped her shoulder against his, commiserating. The two of them had talked about this in their mindscapes several times, and though she hadn't seen it before Harry had pointed out to her, once Aayla had seen it she could not deny it either.

The nudge to his shoulder brought Harry back to the here and now, and he listened as Master Dooku outlined his simple, but hopefully effective plan, which actually did, to Harry's relief, go beyond the "jump out as close as possible and hit them hard" concept. "Knight Vos will first lead Naboo's two squadrons of starfighters in a single wave. We only have two squadrons of them, but that is a large enough threat to hopefully pull out all of the mobile defenses our enemies can call upon. Precisely an hour afterwards Master Fay and I will lead in the main fleet."

Calling their forces a fleet was a misnomer, it was more of a small flotilla. The Republic Navy had sent eight combat-modified Consular class ships. These were the mainstay of the Republic Navy at this point, cheap to build and maintain, easy to modify/upgrade, and with both decent speed and shielding for their size. Their offensive punch consisted of several turret mounted quad lasers and two forward facing turbolasers most of the time, though the RN ships had targeting software for concussion missiles or proton torpedoes, though few had the actual weapon systems.

In contrast to that, both the Kuat designed starfighters and the Naboo designed ones had homing missile systems. The two Naboo starfighter squadrons were bolstered further by three more starfighter squadrons piloted by the Sorenno starfighter corps. This meant that not only was this battle to crush the source of the pirate infestation, but it would serve as a testbed for the starfighter-heavy concept that the counts had decided to attempt.

Master Fay stood up, gathering the attention of the crowd of officers and starfighter pilots with an ease that Harry always found astonishing from his soft-spoken master. Even the most rowdy of the pilots in the back of the room, who hadn't really been listening to anything said so far, stopped speaking and paid attention. "Some of you may know how we Jedi use the Force to do what we do," she said, smiling sweetly at them all. "One of the things Jedi can do that most people do not know about is that we can coordinate jumps through and into hyperspace to a far finer degree than that of even the most advanced computer systems."

Without a gesture or other sign of a signal, Aayla stood up, moving from where she had been sitting next to Harry to stand between Master Fay and her own master. Her shorter stature in comparison to the two adults should have brought some mutterings from the crowd, Lily reflected later, but most people didn't see a Jedi's age. They saw the robes and the lightsaber, and that was it.

"With the aid of padawan Secura, myself and Master Dooku will be able to feel out where Knight Vos is in relation to the rest of the target star system. With that knowledge and with our own abilities, we will be able to calculate a hyperspace jump into the system directly on top of the defenders."

There were some shouts of surprise at that, and Aayla felt Harry's sudden intense interest in the conversation, as if he had just realized something, sharing it with her a second later. He had heard about this part of the plan before, of course. He had even seen the _Explorer_ do that kind of thing at a time or two, and they had certainly done it over Tatooine. But suddenly it came clear to Harry what that ability could mean in terms of tactics and strategy. _Going to have to do something nice for Master Dooku at some point. His lessons on tactics and strategy are beginning to make an impact on how I think._ The idea that he had simply not been mature enough before leaving with Master Fay on their journey to understand such things didn't actually occur to Harry, as it never did to the young.

One of the light cruiser lieutenants was slowly shaking his head. "I'm still worried about the lack of capital ships, Sir. If they have more capital ships, then we could be in trouble."

Harry spoke up for the first time, shaking his head. "I realize why you are saying that, Captain," he said, making no sign of having seen the man straighten as Harry got his rank correct, which few outside the navy did. His real rank was a lieutenant in the Republic Navy, but any officer in command of a ship was automatically called captain regardless of actual rank.

"However, I think you need to read about what happened over Naboo recently. Starfighter pilots can bring more power to the fight than you might be aware of, and sometimes even more than capital ships, such as is the case here. Yes, traveling through hyperspace is still an issue for many starfighter designs, but as you can see from the fact that all of our starfighters are actually here, it is no longer an insurmountable one."

There was some muttered laughter at that, and more than one of the starfighter pilots banged their fists on the seat beneath, them grinning impishly at their opposite numbers among the light cruisers. For his part the lieutenant who had spoken up only nodded thoughtfully. "I'll read up on that battle, Master Jedi. It's true I don't know much about starfighter doctrine since the RN has so few starfighter squadrons of its own. But that brings up another question. What is our ROE in this operation?"

Master Dooku fielded that question easily. "Our rules of engagement are simple: our fleet will defeat anything in space that has a weapon on it with extreme prejudice. I am not interested in taking any prisoners at the expense of our own lives." There were some mutters of appreciation for that, a few overdone but mostly heartfelt. "However, when we move to land ground troops we will need to be aware that we might run into noncombatants, specifically the Nabooan citizens who were taken en-masse recently."

He had to stop for a moment as a growl of anger rose up from the Nabooan starfighter pilots. Though their society was a pacifistic one, with most of their limited tactical doctrine based around the idea of defense first and only, these pilots were still soldiers. And they hated the idea that they had failed their people so badly as to let them be taken off to be slaves.

The sound was matched with an exuberant roar from the Wookie contingent, causing Dooku to smile a wintry sort of smile. Defending the slaves would not be an issue with this group, though his next statement would be rather hard to follow up on. _Or it would be if not for Master Fay's unique gifts with telepathy._ "We also want at least a few prisoners from among the installation technicians and workers. We Jedi will handle that part of the operation, however, along with our infantry force."

Master Dooku gestured to one side, and the leader of the Wookie contingent stood up from among his fellows. The fact that there were so many so-called leaders among such a small force made Harry wonder about how the Wookies decided such things. "These Wookies and their families and tribes have graciously agreed to join us in this endeavor. We will be leading them into the installation and the space fortress however we can, but I refuse to make plans of that nature this far removed."

Again that brought some nods of approval from the soldiers around them, and Dooku ended the meeting with, "We leave within the next hour. I suggest you all get some food or rest, and then head to your ships."

 **OOOOOOO**

Quinlan and his force of starfighters came out of hyperspace, racing deeper into the targeted system as their scanners scanned the region before them. It was a small system as they had expected, dominated by a brown dwarf star as Master Fay had been able to sense through her force meditation. _That woman's ability is uncanny. I wonder how many other Jedi could've discerned the amount of detail she was able to get with the Veil of the Dark Side pressing in on us as it is._ That answer would be not many, Quinlan thought, feeling despondent for a moment.

Looking down at his sensors, he saw what he had expected to see, again thanks to Master Fay. At least one large space station orbited around a small planetoid, the only other solar body in the system. There weren't even asteroids, barring a few scattered rocks in the outskirts of the system, which they had already flown past. It was more of a moon than a planet really, with two large bio-domes on the surface directly abutting each other.

"Astromech droid, what can you tell me about that space station?" Quinlan asked.

The beeps and woops of the reply of course meant nothing to Quinlan, but one of the instruments in the cockpit was a translation device, which translated the astromech's noises into words on a screen. The gist of it was that the droid couldn't tell him anything about the space station, since it was not matching up to any known stations, though there were bits and pieces of it that did.

"Why am I not surprised?" Quinlan said, shaking his head. In the Outer and even in the Mid Rim, that kind of construction was all too common. It wasn't safe, and it would never be as nice, as clean, or as safe (which in Quinlan's opinion bore repeating, given space and all the myriad ways it could kill you) as a purpose built space station would be, but it would be cheap, which unfortunately was all too important to most star systems out here.

The astromech's continued beeping brought Quinlan out of his musings about economics and need versus safety. By this point the defenders of the system were aware of them and had already formed up their defenses in preparation. The numbers were coming in as he looked at his sensors. Ten Corvettes or, as Quinlan knew them to be, refitted small freighters; two frigates, again simply refitted medium-sized freighters; three squadrons of mixed starfighter types; and a dreadnought.

This last was a very unwelcome surprise. It was an old-style dreadnought, but it was the only made for military action ship in the system, and it didn't look as if it had been modified all that much. "Four heavy turbolasers, heavy shielding, sixteen quad lasers, four tractor beams," Quinlan mused. "That could be a challenge."

The opposing fleet had come out to meet the attackers even as the Jedi contingent's starfighters began to turn away, not making to jump out right away, which should have made the defenders think. It didn't. Instead the seeming sign that the attackers were leery of combat seemed to have lulled the defenders into a false sense of security. After all, they had three squadrons of mixed starfighters and thirteen capital ships against two squadrons of starfighters. They must've thought that their birthdays had come early.

Moments later, however, Quinlan felt the faint touch of Master Fay, controlling the gestalt between her and the other Jedi in the task force on his mind. A moment later he smiled grimly as an idea of how to take care of the dreadnought occurred to him. "All starfighter pilots connect your missile systems to mine. Five seconds from mark, instigate plan turnabout… Mark!"

With that Quinlan gunned his starfighter's engines, streaking forward faster than his fellows, who had noticeably slowed their headlong charge into the system as their sensors picked up the defenders ,as if they were now second-guessing themselves, unsure what to do.

It was a little known fact that proton and concussion missiles had about half again the controlled flight range of a starfighter's lock-on systems. You could also connect various starfighter computer systems together into a limited datanet. For short amounts of time anyway. After all, a datanet like that wouldn't help starfighters while they were in dogfights where individual skill and dexterity as well as training with your partners mattered far more than whether your computers were speaking together correctly and keeping track of everything. But at range, that was a different story.

Turbolaser and quad-laser blasts began to pepper space all around Quinlan as his starfighter ducked and dodged with his Force-given preternatural reflexes, zooming forward as the two squadrons with him broke, streaking away and to the sides of the incoming defenders. The defenders broke in turn, the fighter squadrons breaking up into groups of four or five racing after each of his starfighters as the capital ships slowed, lobbing fire almost lazily towards the one starfighter still streaking towards them.

A moment later Quinlan felt a shiver of the Force, the faint touch of Master Fay and Master Dooku's minds on his suddenly becoming far more present. At the same exact second the rest of the attacking force suddenly came out of hyperspace.

The effect was immediate. The cruisers began to open fire on their opposite numbers; the corvettes and frigates began to pound on one another. But the speed of the incoming forces was telling, forcing much of the defenders' fire to miss while the attackers had the advantage of a few seconds surprise to move through their enemy's formation, spinning around before the attackers could recover from their shock. The dreadnought, however, took their best attacks and simply fired back calmly, not even trying to dodge, trusting in its powerful shields and armor.

While the capital ships dueled, the incoming starfighters pounced on their opposite numbers, coming out as they did in groups, several flights breaking up and turning to hunt down the heretofore confident pirate starfighters, who were caught utterly flatfooted with most of them too far away to aid one another. They had no chance to reform into their squadrons as their original prey turned on them, catching the slaving scum between two firing zones. One of the new starfighter squadrons stayed together, attacking the two medium sized, refitted freighters. One of these freighters was already sitting listless in space, its side blown out from some exterior explosion.

As he was wondering what had happened there Quinlan's systems finally locked onto the dreadnought he was still racing toward. "All ships of Task Force One, fire torpedoes!"

Behind him his starfighter pilots all let loose of fusillade of torpedoes. They were locked onto his, as if his torpedoes were tracers acting to guide them in. They did, though, come in from a wildly scattered arc, since they had not reformed yet, with each wing-pair firing from a different point in the somewhat sprawling battlefield.

Many of the torpedoes didn't even follow their predetermined lock on, instead locking onto enemy ships all around them. Yet most followed their pilots' plans, smashing into the target from all sides, not as an unstoppable blow as Quinlan had hoped, but as a wave. The dreadnought's shields rippled and died in segments, then the last few torpedoes hit, smashing guns flat or blasting its armor to pieces.

The cruisers immediately took advantage of this, moving in a line over the most wounded side the dreadnought and pouring fire in. the dreadnaught fought back, and more than one of the cruisers' shields died, damage beginning to accumulate. It also rolled, but the cruisers moved with it as fast as they could, continuing to hammer the damaged sides of the ship.

Eventually the dreadnought's shields failed utterly on that side, and soon after it lost the weapons systems facing its enemies. A second later its engines shattered, turning a barrel roll into an uncontrolled twist, and Quinlan winced. That had all the signs of the ship's internal gravity machine going, and while the ship wasn't going fast enough to make that immediately fatal, it certainly wouldn't be pleasant for the individuals aboard. A second later, the ship's generator exploded under either the strain of combat or accumulated damage, shattering the entire ship into four pieces.

Quinlan looked around, somewhat astonished as he realized how complete and how quick the destruction of the defenders had been. _Surprise really counts for that much in naval battles?_ He had not been involved in any kind of naval battle before this. The nearest experience he could compare it to was a dogfight he'd had with a few pirate ships as a padawan. This had been something else altogether.

In fact the cause of the attackers demise was only partially surprise. The Corvettes and makeshift frigates simply didn't have the defenses they should have had. Like most pirates this group had simply added as many weapons systems as they could to their ships rather than weapons and shields in equal measure. It had come back to haunt them now, making them unable to match ships that, at least for the dreadnaught and "light cruisers," they should have been able to overwhelm.

At the moment, however, Quinlan had no way of knowing that. More to the point besides a few starfighters wildly evading their fellow starfighters, the defenders' mobile fleet had now been dealt with. That left the star fortress in orbit, and whatever weapons the base below could bring to bear on orbital targets for them to deal with.

However Quinlan's innovation had shown them the way forward. After informing Master Dooku of what he had done, the light cruisers of the Republic Navy moved in, taking long-range fire from the fortress as a few starfighters of the Serenno star force went with them, having proved slightly better in computer simulations in picking off concussion missiles, though they didn't have to do that often. Concussion missiles and proton torpedoes were expensive, and were almost impossible to get in large quantities on the black market. Still, the long range turbolaser fire was bad enough, and again the cruisers' shields began to fall, failing in some places as damage added up.

While they took fire from the star fortress, the Republic's sensors reached out, discovering everything they could about the space fortress. Then with all the starfighter computer systems locked to their own, they fired. These Consular class ships didn't actually have any homing weapons, but they had the targeting computers for them, and the starfighter missiles once again lashed out.

It took two volleys from all the attackers to get through the star fortress's shields and batter its defenses down. Whoever had designed the space fortresses had done a much more thorough job than the pirates had on their actual ships. Their systems were better too, killing many of the proton torpedoes before they could enter sprint range. But it wasn't enough to halt the weight of the torpedoes.

At the same time that the space battle entered its second phase, the rest of the Jedi had turned their attention to the rest of the operation. Quinlan's starfighter again raced forward, joining the dozen troop transports, while on board one of them, Master Fay went to work.

 **OOOOOOO**

Sitting in a mediation pose with her eyes closed and her hands pressed together it in front of her face, Master Fay concentrated, sending her mind out into the Force, hunting for the minds among the defenders of this putrid place who stood out from their fellows. _Despair, hate, fear, fear,_ _ **fear**_ _._ The fear of the slaves being kept here beat at her senses like a tsunami, heightening the power of the veil of the Dark Side as it tried to close in all around her, drowning her in the Dark.

Yet despite that, the minds she was searching for burned even brighter to her senses because of it. They were the sources of much of the fear, the source of a lot of the hate directed towards the attackers, yet tempered by calculation and avarice.

Once she had found them Fay lashed out, her mind flicking forward like a master swordsman's rapier, attacking her targets with both force and pinpoint accuracy despite the Veil, despite the sweat now beading her face. On the bridge of the space fortress several people suddenly collapsed, their minds cut off from their bodies as if they had been puppets and someone had just cut the strings.

On the planet below, several more fell similarly. There she paused, feeling something odd from several minds around the individual she felt had been the leader of this organization. They were colder, more controlled then she expected, with no hint of panic. Deciding that they might be a band of reptilian sentients, she put that observation to one side for now. After all, Trandoshans in particular believed slavery was a natural part of the universe, and often worked for criminals of all stripes.

She could feel panic rise up from the mass of the slavers' and pirates' minds all around her, but that no longer mattered. Opening her eyes she smiled wanly at the concerned face of Loowsherino, the leader of the largest group of warriors whose ship she had been assigned to. "I am all right. I have disabled the leaders among the opposition. That should keep them from becoming organized against us. There are a few scattered slaves throughout the rest of the station and the fortress, I am afraid. But if we can take the junction between the slaves' housing and the rest of the base we can hopefully stop anyone from trying to use the majority of the slaves as shields or hostages."

The large, russet-furred Wookie chuffed good-naturedly, pulling Fay up to her feet as if she were a child. "/Bah as if that would have been enough to stop us from slaughtering them all and freeing their captives! Still, it will make it easier./"

"On that note, I also found the slaves. They are being kept in that separate bio-dome to the left of the main installation. The environment is not pleasant, but it is a multi-tiered thing. If we take control of the entrance to it, I do not sense that they have any electronic means of striking out at them."

Loowsherino nodded his big, shaggy head and raced up to the cockpit from the main holding area, relaying the commands to the other ships of their landing force as the starfighters and cruisers moved in on the star fortress. Master Fay followed only slightly more slowly. Dooku promptly reorganized the transports, sending the one containing Harry off slightly from the others.

Luckily the installation was sprawling enough that the only size of shielding which would have covered it all was a planetary sized one. Planetary shield generators were massive installations and expensive and time-consuming to build, such that few planetary governments beyond the Mid Rim could afford them. No pirate band or organized crime syndicate could ever have built one. The Black Sun at its height might have been able to, and certainly the Hutt clans could do so with their combined wealth and resources, but no smaller group could.

The transports came in from the opposite side of the planet as the cruisers went to work on the space fortress. By the time they entered the orbital installation's weapons' arcs, the defenders were fully occupied with attempting to save their own skins, paying no mind to the transports below them. The base did have some anti-air weapons, but the Nabooan squadron Dooku had assigned to guard the transports blazed forward, engaging each in turn as they showed up.

Harry's ship hovered right above the junction between the slaves' group jail cell and the rest of the base. He took a moment to think that it might have made sense to keep the slaves separate for any number of reasons, in particularly defensive ones, but it was going to bite them on the ass now. Once the ship was in position, hovering directly above the junction, he nodded up at his mother. "You're up, Mum."

"See you in a bit, Harry," Lily said with a chuckle, fading through the floor of the ship and making her way down. As a ghost, she, of course, was not affected by the lack of air outside, and they had done this kind of thing before.

With his mother gone Harry quickly turned to the Wookies, who were looking at one another quizzically, wondering what the young Jedi had said and why he had seemingly addressed thin air for a moment there. "Gather around, everyone. I know you all are wondering what we're going to do here, since we can't take the chance of just blowing our way into the base. What you are all about to experience is a secret, and as such I will ask you to never tell anyone else about this." Harry grimaced. "And you also might find it distinctly unpleasant, but it will get us down there without us needing to blow our way in."

One of the Wookies growled at Harry. He was a younger one judging from his size and lack of adornment on his bandoleer, but he seemed to be respected for all that. "/Asking us to keep it a secret is fine. We will do so, of course. But I still have no idea what we're doing here./"

"We're trying to prevent a hostage situation from occurring," Harry said somewhat blandly. "We can't fight our way through from the landing pads to the slave areas, not and stop anyone from trying to take them hostage. So instead were going to take command right here."

"/We can't survive out there!/" shouted one of the Wookies Harry had been introduced to whose name was Sarboucca. He shook his head wildly, his dark brown fur sticking up in all directions. "/We didn't bring any of our Zero-G suits with us./" Wearing those things was the next best thing to torture for the Wookies given the amount of hair they had, and so they rarely if ever wore them outside of real life or death situations. The idea of bringing them along normally, let alone for a battle, had never occured to them, and it wasn't like they would have fit into any the Nabooans could have supplied.

Moreover, though the Wookies themselves would not admit this, wearing helmets over their faces for extended periods of time was enough to drive most of them crazy. It's why they rarely ever wore armor in combat, let alone helmets.

"You won't have to," Harry soothed. "I have a Force technique that allows me to…teleport, I suppose you could say…from one spot to another. I will pop in first, memorize the layout of the place, and then pop back out before bringing you with me in groups."

Harry had to raise his voice to be heard over the shouts of surprise, consternation, and shock from the Wookies all around him. "After you are down one group will take position there while the rest of us spread out from there into the base, opening a second front against the defenders. This will force them to both split their attention, and allow us to safeguard the slaves who we are here to free! I realize this sounds unusual and dangerous, but it is necessary!"

That did not quiet the growls and mutters from the Wookies, and he was forced to use a silencing technique on the entire crowd to regain order. The glares he received after that made Harry cringe, no one likes seeing that many angry Wookies, after all. But they quickly understood that he was no longer hearing their voices, and indeed, none of them could hear each other either very well either.

"Thank you!" he said, removing the technique over the area and going on before any of them could realize it. "Now, if you could all be quiet for a moment, I have to concentrate on this so that I don't leave bits of myself behind! Unless any of you has a better suggestion?"

The growls and hand gestures told Harry that the Wookies were not exactly happy with this, but would go along with it for now. Though the glares he got from the younger Wookie warriors told Harry he might have issues there.

"/We don't believe you can succeed in this. We have had many Force sensitives join the Jedi Order in the past, and what you are saying goes well beyond what Jedi can do,/" said one of the Wookies bluntly in their own language, shaking his head. "/But then again we've never heard of Jedi being able to silence all sound in an area like that before either./"

"Yes, you'd be surprised at what we've been discovering Jedi can do lately," Harry said dryly, as his mother floated up through the floor.

As soon as Lily's head was above the level of the floor she began to talk quickly. "There's a quad laser in the ceiling in terms of automated defenses, but there are six guards, and they're arguing right now about what to do. Two of them think they should start dragging the slaves out to use them as meat shields while the other four are holding out for new orders. One of those is trying to get in touch with their boss. The speed of our assault's taken them completely by surprise, but we need to get in there!"

Lily immediately began to describe the area, going into detail on the shape and organization of the room as well as where everyone was in it. _Thank God for Jedi mind techniques!_ The mix of the Jedi's mental techniques and Occlumency enabled Lily to quickly memorize what she saw and then regurgitate it verbatim later, which in turn gave Harry the ability to teleport into places he had not actually seen personally. They'd only used this technique a few times, after all it was supposed to be a secret, and the more often you used a secret technique the less it was an actual secret, but it had worked every time so far.

After a few moments Harry repeated what Lily had said word for word, then began to construct an image of the area in his head. At the same moment he felt Aayla reach out to his mind. _"We're starting our assault, Harry! Master Quinlan's out and moving to the door!"_

The other troop transports had landed on the base's actual landing port, but the defenders, despite no longer being led by anyone, had the presence of mind to shut down the atmosphere shield, the very low powered shield that was intended to keep in atmosphere, as it would on a ship's loading area. But Quinlan had a spacesuit and a computer, and was hacking software that would get them into the base soon enough.

The plan from that point was to leave Master Fay by the entrance with a group of Wookies, the youngest of them, to defend their path of retreat while the rest of them would press forward. Each clan or family would operate independently to break the defenders' positions and search out the pleasure slaves scattered throughout the rest of the base, while one team would head forward with Aayla and Quinlan, and another with Harry as Master Fay directed them towards the control center of the base.

" _Good luck, love. I'll see you in a bit!"_ With that Harry set his concern for Aayla aside, concentrating on his own task. Letting loose a breath of air, he breathed in and began to form the image of himself in the structure he'd already created within his mind of the area below them. And then as the image solidified, he poured his Force power into it, imagining himself **there** instead of **here**.

Just as it had worked the times before, like it had the first time on Ryloth, Harry disappeared from where he was and appeared where he wanted to be with a loud pop of displaced air. Having come out in a corner of the room, the shouts of surprise from all around him signaled his arrival.

Swiftly Harry activated his lightsaber, cutting to one side, wincing as his lightsaber literally cut through a pirate, a Duros like his friend Alecto armed with a wicked looking skinning dagger and a whip. The shocked look on his face would have been comical under other circumstances.

Yet Harry could not let his grief at taking a life so quickly control him, and he lashed out with a Force Push that slammed two other men, both humans, into the airlock they had just been about to open, leaving them senseless on the ground. He brought his lightsaber back around to block two astonishingly well aimed blaster bolts, but was unable to direct them back at his opponents. A swift stunning bolt flew from his other hand, however, knocking the last of the defenders unconscious.

The quad laser set into the floor had twisted around by this time, and Harry hastily brought up his lightsaber to block the blasts, the lightsaber flashing this way and that, its distinctive hum filling the area, audible even over the sounds of the alarms in the background, interspersed by the spang, spang of blaster bolts impacting the blade. They came a little too fast and a little too furiously for harry to deflect back using Shien, pushing Harry off balance before he could recover, and one of the bolts flew by his head with a bare inch to spare.

The blaster bolts came in so fast and furiously Harry couldn't divide his attention between his Force Precognition and trying to use the Force to destroy it. But he quickly got used to the speed and impact of the bolts, which began to bounce directly back at the gun slagging it within a few seconds.

Breathing in deeply, Harry let his lightsaber fall to the side for a second, staring around him before deactivating the lightsaber and concentrating once again on where he had previously been. That was much easier, although when he popped into the transport two of the Wookies had moved forwards towards where he had been standing.

They must've been waving their hands in the air where he had previously been and they let out sharp barks of exclamation, retreating quickly. "I said I could do it," he said mildly, letting none of his relief that they had stopped waving their hands through that position show on his face. His mother had been very clear on what would have happened if he had teleported into a position occupied by another person or thing, and it wasn't pretty. "Now gather round. I can only do this with people touching me, so I'll be bringing you in about five or six at a time."

By the time the Wookie force with him had been completely transported, Harry was gasping, sweat streaking his face. Transporting other people like that took it out of him to a degree Harry hadn't realized before this, not having ever done so with so many people before. Still, they were in position and pushing forward within about five minutes of the time it had taken him to take out the defenders.

After he popped in the last group, Harry leaned against a control console for a moment, getting his breath back before activating his lightsaber again and looking at the Wookies. "Have you decided who's going to stay?"

Several of the older Wookies nodded firmly, taking up stations along the walls and behind the control panel set into the center of the room. One of them, one of the oldest leaders named Tarnoshiiicaba, also knelt behind the quad turret, chuffing. "/Jedi, always so hard on electrical devices./"

"It was trying to be equally hard on me, so my sympathy for it is limited," Harry replied dryly, garnering a chuffing laugh from the Wookies as he looked around, realizing that at least ten Wookies were missing. "We should think of rotating troops back to rest if we have to, though hopefully this battle won't…" He stopped, shaking his head. "Yeah, I'm not going to jinx us like that."

That caused some more chuffs of laughter, and Harry doubled over from a slap to the back from one of the Wookies, who had gotten over their shock at his teleportation far quicker than he had feared they would. They seemed now to take it in stride, and gestured him on. "/Come, young padawan! It is time we Wookies showed you what we can do!/"

Harry nodded and raced forward, determined to catch up with the first group that had already left.

 **OOOOOOO**

Master Dooku and his former padawan led the assault onto the space station, having used the Force to open one of the airlocks despite the best efforts of the mechanical systems to keep it closed. Once inside the two Jedi took up position there, holding the interior against the nearest band of pirates who responded to the breach while the rest of the Wookies funneled in behind them. After dealing with that first group of defenders they split off, Master Dooku heading one way and Komari another, with the Wookies spreading out behind them in every direction.

The Wookies automatically did this, splitting off into various groups, mostly clan, tribe, or family based. It was a weakness of the Wookies that their internecine feuds and rivalries between tribal units sometimes got in the way of their ability to work together towards a common goal. Yet at times it allowed for a certain amount of flexibility, because each family or tribe was used to acting independently. While this could be a weakness, against a rabble like these thugs, it served them very well. They pushed rapidly into the interior of the space station, overcoming the defenders in pockets here and there before they could organize.

This was the first real fight Komari had been in since being rescued from the Bando Gora. She moved forward swiftly, the Force singing around her, her lightsaber flashing out this way and that, batting aside blaster bolts as she hacked through any defenders that faced her. She was reckless but controlled, and had developed a mastery of Force Shield that would have astonished anyone outside of Clan Saa, having watched, fought, and taught with Harry.

That skill kept Komari alive numerous times when she forgot to see to her own defense in lieu of attacking. This allowed her to race further into the installation, leaving all the Wookies well behind. However Knight Vosa's wild charge led her away from the actual control center for the space station.

Master Dooku, on the other hand, took to combat coolly as he always did, disdaining the idea of becoming emotionally involved in the battle behind a certain amount of interest in the challenge. He used his Force senses to find where the minds Fay had shut down were located, and this led him unerringly towards the control center. It also led him directly into the first real impediment to their attack.

The area where this occurred was a slightly more open area, not a concourse or anything of that nature, but a meeting of different converging hallways into a single area with a security post. Here an even dozen assault droids waited, powered up and looking for opponents. They were tall. Far taller and more muscular looking than the combat droids that had been used on Naboo, despite their cobbled together appearance.

One arm on each of them was a double barreled blaster, while the other arm held a large shield device, which was actually the most uniform thing about the droids. It was shaped much like those that the Gungans used and was made of heavy, heat resistant steel, so heavy that most sentients of a similar size would have had trouble lifting it. It was evident that however good their systems were, it did not include any kind of IFF, as several sentients lay around them dead.

They all turned and opened fire immediately as Master Dooku came within sight, forcing him to use his lightsaber to block and deflect their plasma bolts as he moved forward. "Remain behind me," he ordered the Wookies with him. "Fire over me if you can, but let me take the lead here, and wait for my signal before firing a full volley."

The Wookies behind Count Dooku obeyed, their odd, bow shaped blaster rifles firing with the significant thunks of the weapons. Two droids fell, their legs shattered by the blows, and another lost its head, falling to the floor with a resounding crash.

But then the droids showed a remarkable amount of intelligence for the breed. Several of them brought their shields down to defend their legs, while others raised them in front of each other's upper bodies. This shrunk the front of their line, but given the nature of the environment and Dooku's attack, that didn't matter. They then poked their blasters out of the small slits which remained between the shields, and continued to fire.

That and the distance between where they had spotted Count Dooku and begun to open fire on him made for very trying time as Dooku forced his way forward down the corridor. Only one of the droids fell, to an excellent shot from behind him, as he made his way forward.

Yet despite their defenses and the simply monstrous amount of fire, Master Dooku's lightsaber skills and Force Precognition served him well, allowing him to close the distance until he felt he was within range for his newest technique, the same kind of explosive technique Harry had used against him a few times.

He launched the technique down the corridor, and the explosion smashed into the droids, hurling them backwards and breaking their shield wall. It wasn't as powerful as Dooku had hoped, but not as weak as Dooku had feared for a first field test, and he raced forward. "Now!"

Behind him the Wookies redoubled their rate of fire, downing several droids permanently as he raced forward, and before the droids could regain their footing Dooku was in among them. Here the heaviness of their shields encumbered the droids, and he lashed out either way, his lightsaber flashing and cutting them down, and soon the last one fell bisected in half as another one collapsed behind it, its head and chest almost missing from the Wookies' furious assault.

After that Master Dooku turned his attention to the door leading into the control room, hacking them apart quickly and efficiently. The Wookies streamed in, and only Dooku's shout of, "Remember, we want some prisoners. Leave the ones that are already unconscious in one piece!" saved those few from being summarily executed where they lay.

The space station was theirs.

 **OOOOOOO**

In the pirates' main base the fight was much more chaotic. For one thing, there were a **lot** more pirates. Where Komari Dooku and their assault faced only six or seven hundred before Dooku had captured the control center, there were at least four thousand or more on the surface. Against this, however, the transports had brought in around one thousand three hundred Wookies, with more coming in after the initial breach was in the attackers' hands.

But the pirates in the base also had access to a lot more heavy weapons. Several of the Wookies had fallen to a few of the defensive points, but that only seemed to make the Wookies fight ever harder. And the pirates just didn't have enough in the way of organization to stop the Wookies from pushing ever forward. The more the pirates were pushed back, the more desperate they became.

Several times small groups of pirates attempted to use pleasure slaves as shields or bargaining chips. The trio of attacking Jedi would then be called forward to deal with it. Then they would watch astonished as Force Shields popped into being around their would-be hostages, protecting them and them alone as the Wookies opened up with a roar, gunning them down brutally.

This didn't happen often, however, since Master Fay was there, still using her mastery of telepathy to search the minds of the pirates. There might have been too many of them, and the miasma of their fear was interfering with her powers, but she could still search out minds who were now slowly beginning to feel hope, and shut down any individual who began to think of using them these as shields or hostages.

Following behind one of the larger groups of Wookies pressing forward, Fay exhaled long and low, shaking her head sadly. _I've seen too much combat of late. This really isn't my sort of mission, but I suppose we must all do our part._

Feeling movement to one side, she turned quickly, moving to take position at an intersection facing away from the direction the Wookies had moved. The corridor she was now facing was one that sloped downward slightly, branching off into several smaller corridors which looked like they led down into one of the underground generators which powered the base. Most of them had been closed off by small hatches, but now they bounced open, and dozens of pirates came out, charging forward.

"Yes, I knew we could get around them like this! Now we just need to attack those damn walking piles of fur from behind, give our boys some time to recover and…"

The speaker, a Sullustan, paused as he saw Master Fay standing there watching them. The other pirates, however, didn't hesitate, their weapons coming up quickly. "She ain't got no lightsaber! Get the kriffing bitch!"

Fay frowned lightly, being addressed in such a manner irritating her as it would any woman, as did the supposition that she was somehow easy pickings just because she didn't have a lightsaber. Flicking a few fingers forward on one hand she brought a Force Shield into being which caught and absorbed the plasma bolts of their blasters. Another gesture from the same hand shot a massive bolt of red which filled the entire corridor from top to bottom. It raced forward, and before the group of pirates could move the red bolt hit, sending them all into blissful unconsciousness.

Shaking her head, Fay walked around the downed bodies, removing their guns and shattering them one after another with pinpoint Force TK strikes. "An open palm is not a weakness. It is a gesture that if you treat with me in peace, I will do the same. It does not mean I am without recourse if you do not." Once her work was done, she closed the hatches the pirates had come through, then used the Force to slowly twist and break the manual controls so they could not be opened again. With that done she turned, moving to rejoin the group of Wookies.

 **OOOOOOO**

Elsewhere in the base, Aayla and Quinlan had broken off from the Wookies, moving forward mostly by guile and Force Cloak for a time. They wanted to get to the central control center, which would hopefully have a map or surveillance screens which they could use to better control the advance of their troops.

They ran into several hard points, areas protected more by fully automated turrets than anything else, but were able to hammer them under quickly. Quinlan had developed a certain faculty with illusions, and used said Force technique to flummox the turret's limited computer systems. He made them actually see one another as enemies at times, or simply fire in the opposite direction, letting one or the other Jedi in close. Once close, Quinlan used telekinesis to take out the turrets, and Aayla used her own skill with wind assaults to do the same.

The two of them paused near where they thought that Master Fay had said the control center was as Aayla's eyes went far away for a moment. Quinlan looked at her, then around, letting his Force Cloak fade. Both of them would have seemed as if they were slowly fading into reality if anyone else had been in this sector to see them, but there weren't. They had just passed several groups running in the opposite direction, though. "Harry?"

Aayla nodded. "He and the Wookies with him are running into major trouble: a full company of mercs. They seem to have set up around their living quarters or whatever and are holding them back." She scowled a little, shaking her head. "He and a few Wookies are holding them while others are searching for ways to flank, but it doesn't look good. His arm of the assault is slowing down."

"Let me check in with Master Dooku…" Quinlan muttered, pulling out his communicator and dialing the assault's commander. Despite the walls of the base interfering with the signal, he got through eventually.

"The space station is ours, though we are dealing with a few ships trying to escape from the base. Foolish of them, since we now control the orbitals, but a predictable response from such swine. I am sending down half of the Wookie troops we used here along with several of the Nabooan starfighter pilots," Dooku reported. "We are going to see if any of the slaves are able and willing to fight for their freedom. After that, we will push out further from there to join up with Padawan Potter's command."

There was a moment's pause as Dooku opened up a line with Fay, who was able to help Aayla and Quinlan regain their bearings in relation to their target, the control center. They had lost their way slightly thanks to the haphazard nature of the base's architecture and needing to reroute around a large band of pirates.

Realizing the two were close, Dooku promptly ordered the two of them to continue on their way. "We want to capture the leader of this operation if at all possible, which given Master Fay's assault should certainly be possible. Continue with your mission, Knight Vos."

"Understood," Quinlan replied, and gestured Aayla to continue as the sounds of battle got closer, the roar of the Wookie battle cries carrying very well through the corridors of the base. Despite not running into many more pirates save a scattered handful, the two of them continued to hear the sounds of battle coming closer, then further away, but always present.

More than once Aayla paused, frowning as Harry and his forces ran into more organized resistance. The company of mercenaries, a group which used a hand clenched over a red rose as their symbol, which none of the Jedi had ever seen, were now acting like a rallying point for the defenders, and the Wookies were becoming bogged down everywhere. Despite that, the battle was pretty much a foregone conclusion since the joint assault force controlled the orbitals, though the defenders didn't seem to realize it.

About ten minutes later the two of them arrived at the control center, finding the massive hatch leading into it strangely empty. The control center was a lavishly appointed room, with a lounge chair of all things in the middle, gold inlays here and there, and elegant, nearly serpentine style light fixtures in each corner. The communications gear was built into one wall to look like so many windows, and there were three small recesses set around the room which catered to an equal number of computers with soft seats built into them.

But for all of that, it was empty of their target. There were two dead women, both humans, there, neatly killed with their necks snapped, their bodies draped over two of the small recesses. They didn't look like pleasure slaves. They wore normal spacers' clothing and blasters at their belts, but they hadn't fought back either.

"Some kind of internecine argument, perhaps?" Quinlan mused, but then he was distracted by what one of the screens was showing. A group of Wookies was about to be ambushed from several sides. Moving over to the screen he pulled out his communicator as he saw which area of the base that was, quickly discerning where that was in conjunction with the two major avenues of the attack.

He quickly began to bark orders into the communicator, finding and warning that group of Wookies that they had trouble coming. Then he watched as the group of Wookies turned and, instead of digging in or falling back as he suggested, turned around as one, and charged into the attackers behind them, rounding the same corner the pirates had hoped to round in turn to surprise them.

Two Wookies fell before they were within reach of the pirates. The pirates, seventy men of dozens of different races, didn't stand a chance after that, the Wookies taking them to pieces quite literally.

"Yes, well, that works too…" Quinlan mumbled, rather stunned. He had never seen someone's arms actually ripped off before, let alone seen said arms be used as flails against other people afterward.

Shaking his head, Quinlan glanced away from the screens looking around the control center. "I don't think either of these women was the leader of this organization, and there are three substations here. That means the other operator must have somehow dragged their leader away, somewhat more selfless than I would expect of pirates. But then again I didn't expect to see women in such high positions as these two must have, either."

Aayla shuddered, the very idea of women being involved in slavery bothering her. It wasn't the first time she had come across such examples, of course, but it still made her shudder. Worse at times, the women who became part of such organizations were often even more horrible than the men in dehumanizing their victims.

He turned to look at Aayla who had been examining the body of one of the two dead women. "Aayla, see if you can track whoever it was down. They can't really get away, but capturing them here and now will be much easier than if they attempt to escape using a hidden ship or something similar. I'll stay here and do what I can to direct the battle."

"Understood, Master. Don't worry, I'll find them," Aayla replied, eager to show once more that she could operate on her own despite her young age.

As Quinlan returned to the screens and began to transmit instructions or warnings, Aayla exited the control center, looking around for a moment. Unlike most control centers, this one didn't abut any intersections. The last intersection they had passed through was a good five hundred feet or so away. _But we didn't see anyone coming for, what, two minutes or so? Nor did we hear anything over the noise of combat… Hmm…_

Searching around with her hands and the Force she found a panel in one of the metal plated walls that moved under her light push, which it should definitely not have done if it actually abutted the outside of the base. "Ah ha!"

Using her lightsaber she cut into the wall there cautiously, first making a hole large enough to poke her head into. Not that she did. Instead she conjured up a small mirror and used that, though the precaution was unnecessary. No one tried to take a shot at her. After that she cut an opening for herself, idly wondering how the owners of the base had operated the secret panel, but deciding it didn't matter. Once her doorway was cut, she moved on, racing now, ignoring her Force Cloak in lieu of speed.

 **OOOOOOO**

At first Harry had had trouble catching up with the lead Wookie groups who had set off while he was still teleporting in their fellows. Evidently the Wookies did not know the meaning of "hurry up and wait," just "hurry" when it came to combat. He did eventually catch up, however, and through judicious use of Force Shields, Force Telekinesis, and his lightsaber, Harry was able to keep all of the group he joined both pointed forward and alive despite numerous attempts by the thugs they were facing to either encircle or pin them down.

That was until they ran into the mercenary company. Despite its leader apparently being among Master Fay's victims, this group had enough training and coordination to make a real fight of it. Worse, they'd had time to get over their initial shock at the attack and had put it to good use, fortifying their barracks area.

The first Harry learned of this was when he rounded a curve in the corridor several hundred feet away and three stories down from where he had teleported in and walked into a hail of quad laser and blaster fire. There were even a few disintegration beams in there, and his hurriedly erected Force Shield spluttered under the impacts, shimmering in midair like a violent rainbow.

Harry hadn't been quite quick enough in getting his shield up, and one of the Wookies fell to the ground with a roar, his leg having taken several blaster bolts, and another simply died, falling back, his head and upper body smoking from several impacts. Despite that, the wounded Wookie was still firing back from the floor, which nearly killed one of his fellows when it bounced off the inside of Harry's shield. He stopped immediately, looking rather sheepish, if an eight foot tall, furry monster could be said to look sheepish.

"We live and learn!" Harry grunted in reply to that look. He held his free hand up in front of him palm outward, as he held the shield in place while trying to concentrate on something else even as the fire re-doubled against his shield, making his head swim. _Dammit! Teleporting people like that really did take it out of me._ Harry noticed, however, that the ceiling in this area was quite a bit higher than other areas had been. "I don't suppose any of you have grenades?"

No sooner said than done, several dozen Wookies threw grenades up and over Harry's Force Shield, and Harry used the Force to direct them forward into the mercenaries' position. They went off in a long string of explosions, taking most of the mercenaries out at once, including all three of the team operated quad lasers.

Harry let his shield fall, and the Wookies charged forward to finish off the survivors as he breathed in deeply, closing his eyes and shaking his head as he got in touch with Aayla mentally, before pulling out a communicator and warning Master Fay and Master Dooku about the mercenaries. Hearing that Master Dooku was nearly finished with the space fortress was good news, and Harry sent one Wookie to help his wounded fellow back to where the slaves had been housed before moving forward again.

After that, however, it became increasingly difficult for Harry and the Wookies with him to make any progress. Not only were the corridors becoming less and less uniform and with less cover, but the mercenaries were practically **everywhere** now! Here and there two or three of them would lead larger groups of pirates which, though easier to deal with, pinned the attackers in place while other attacks were made entirely by the mercenaries, and the mercenaries had better weapons and better coordination. If it wasn't for Lily scouting before them, Harry would have lost a lot of people by now to ambushes or envelopments.

As it was they were continually getting bogged down, which was allowing the defenders to bring their greater numbers to bear more and more often.

After one such battle which cost three Wookies their lives, Harry ripped his communicator off his belt angrily, taking a brief moment to banish the grief-fueled anger he felt before speaking. "Master Fay, I'm losing people here. I request that I be allowed to open my bag of tricks further," he said, the terminology they used for the Force abilities Harry, Aayla, and Fay had developed that had not yet become mainstream even among Clan Saa.

Master Fay's response was quick and somewhat admonishing in tone. "Harry, you shouldn't have to ask. If someone's life is on the line, secrecy should go by the wayside immediately."

Harry nodded, shamefaced. "Sorry, Master. I suppose I'm still a little leery thanks to that trip to Coruscant and all of the secrecy."

"Understandable, Harry. Now go get them," Fay said, a tone of faintly amused irritation in her voice. Master Fay did not like combat at all, and she liked the fact that Harry, the boy she saw as a son, did and was more than willing to throw himself into combat even less. "I would only recommend that you keep your…explosive abilities…and your transfiguration and conjuration to yourself."

"I can do that, Master." Harry hung up then, cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders for a moment before looking around at the Wookies all around him. "Move forward behind me. Guard my back and sides. I'm going to hit this group in front of us as hard as I can, though as with my teleportation I ask that you keep what you see me do to yourselves."

Before the Wookies could ask what he was talking about, Harry pushed forward, racing down the hallway, his lightsaber up and his Force Precognition active. It had been active throughout the battle so far, but the sheer number of people around them and the environment had badly impacted his ability with that technique. _Definitely need more training in that. Back to school, I suppose._ _However, I do have other tricks up my sleeve._

Lily came through a wall just ahead of him. Only Harry's skidding for a second stopping him from running right through her, and Lily rapidly shook her head. "After this curve the corridor splits in two, and they've got cannons set up to both sides, plus a small troop in the middle where it splits to draw you in. Worse, unless you want to double back several hundred yards worth of corridor, there's no way around."

"So we go through," Harry said, smiling up at her. "Master Fay just told me I was kind of silly not to start using all of my powers already."

"You were, but I thought we were keeping most of that a secret anyway."

"Not from the Wookies. They can be trusted to keep my abilities under wraps, so long as I don't use the real high-end stuff."

"And most of these thugs are for the rope anyway. That's why they're fighting so hard," Lily said with a nod. She leaned down, her ghostly lips briefly touching the scar on Harry's forehead. "Give them hell, luv."

Harry chuckled, then raced forward, one hand up flashing out with a wide-angle stunner which impacted two of the seven men that made up the forward position Lily had seen. The others opened fire, but Harry used his lightsaber to good effect, blocking or deflecting blaster bolts directly back at the shooters.

Then he gestured towards the ground with his free hand, making a pulling motion. Here the ground was the stone of the planet rather than metal. The ground underneath the defenders shuddered and jolted up into spires, shattering the defensive position, heaving the two ferocrete blocks they'd been using as shields to one side as others smashed directly into the defenders' bodies.

Racing forward Harry stopped directly before the position where he would have come under fire from both sides of the corridor. With his free hand Harry slowly gestured, lifting both the people of the sacrificial position and the ferocrete blocks and their weapons up into the air before hurling them down one side of the corridor.

From that direction muted screams of shock and astonishment came, and Harry barreled down the other hall, lashing out now with flashes of flame, fire darting forward like an arrow along with wind blasts sharp enough to shear through metal. A moment's concentration spent staring over the heads of the defenders on that side, and suddenly Harry disappeared from before them, appearing on the other side already twirling around. His hands lashed out again with waves of stun bolts, and suddenly the choke point was filled with nothing but the groaning of the wounded.

The Wookies had charged forward on Harry's heels and now spread out down both sides of the choke point, and Harry nodded. "Make certain that someone with a communicator is going the opposite direction so they can call in if they run into trouble." Then Harry smirked impishly, a clear challenge. "But for now, try to keep up!"

That won him a roar of approval from the Wookies, and they thrust their weapons in the air hooting and hollering before Harry turned back and raced on.

For the next several moments, Harry barreled through the defenses like a rhinoceros in a china shop, expending his Force techniques like water, ignoring the fact that he was beginning to get quite tired as he went. Eventually the Wookies, with the aid of the new arrivals from Master Dooku's command, encircled and then broke into the mercenary company's barracks. Shock, fear, and consternation had done their work, and the defenders were never able to fully organize themselves again. Harry's sudden and overwhelming assault had shattered them.

This was a good thing, because just as the last defenses of the mercenaries' barracks went down and the Wookies poured through, Harry had to lean against the wall as feelings from Aayla burned through their link with sudden power. Shock, concern, then something like grim determination. _"Aayla, what's going on?"_ he asked, reaching through their link quickly.

" _I'm busy Harry!"_ Aayla shot back, her mental voice terse with tension.

 **OOOOOOO**

Aayla had followed the hidden hallway for a while, frowning as the thought crossed her mind that this area did not look lived in at all. _So this must be a secret bolt hole, one that probably isn't even on the maps of this place._ Which meant that not only could Master Quinlan not see her via the security cameras, but it was very unlikely that it had any other entrances save the one Aayla had entered, unless there was an emergency hatch someplace. _That means I'm on my own, for a while at least._ That was fine, since in Aayla's opinion she and her master really hadn't done all that much fighting in battle just yet.

Eventually the hallway ended in a warehouse of some kind. It wasn't large by warehouse standards, only four hundred feet square, with a three-story ceiling. There were several dozen pallets of various sizes scattered here and there around the doorway, but otherwise it was relatively empty. Except, that was, for the small cutter sitting near the back wall by what looked like a hatch.

It was a very small but very streamlined, modern-looking spaceship, though Aayla had never seen that particular class of ship before. It looked about the size of a starfighter, but it was definitely not made for combat since it didn't have any weapons visible. Built more for speed than anything else given the size of its engines, Aayla thought.

But that and the clutter around her wasn't what caused Aayla to slowly come to a halt, looking around her keenly. _I should've pulled up my Force Cloak! Too late now, I suppose, and I would've had to add Force Stealth to it too from the feel of things._

She swiftly activated her lightsabers, pulling them out with a Force Pull from their places on her belts, crossing them in front of her in a defensive stance. "I know you're there!" It was not actually her normal Force Precognition which had told her that, but her empathy. She had felt a spark of rage and hate, a powerful feeling which had slipped past the cloak of whoever was in here with her.

In the gloom of the warehouse a shadow detached itself from the cutter's larger shadow as another came out from behind one of the larger piles of pallets. Both of them were women, seemingly around Masters Ti's age perhaps or just a little younger. They wore dark black robes, cut off so that they had no sleeves to speak of, but which flowed down to their ankles. A red belt buckle around their middles, and splashes of purple around the shoulders broke the monotonous black, but that was all.

Both women's faces were tattooed heavily, black marks cascading down from their eyes to below their lips. They wore both purple lipstick and heavy eyeliner from what she could see as they moved into the light provided by the scattered overhead lamps. She could tell they also had yellowish eyes, glowing lightly in the dim light of the warehouse. The one by the cutter had a bit of a purple tone to her eyes, while the other had some red mixed in, only becoming visible as they moved into the better lit, central area. Both were also almost entirely bald except for a topknot which flowed down their backs in a cascade of green.

As they moved forward, both women activated red-bladed lightsabers. The hissing sizzles of their movements rose to match that coming from Aayla's own weapons. The blades were shorter than most lightsabers the Jedi Order used, but not quite short enough to be a shoto.

Both of them began to swing their lightsabers in wide flowing arcs as they moved forward, sneering at her. "Run away, little Jedi. Run home to your master. The Night Sisters were commissioned to guard this one," said one of them, gesturing over her shoulder with a flick of her head to the unconscious form of some kind of reptilian alien lying in front of the gangplank leading up to the ship. "This one belongs to us until our contract is fulfilled. Run away and live!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Aayla said calmly, moving through the crates to meet them as the two of them moved backwards, allowing her to get out into the more open area of the warehouse so that they could circle around her like two predators circling a juicy bantha. "That man is wanted for crimes against the Republic. You two can walk away if you wish. But if you don't, might I have your names before we start?"

Despite her tone, inside Aayla was anything but calm. At first after feeling the presence of these two she had indeed thought she should retreat, but something had stopped her. First, of course, was the idea that the person behind this operation might get away. That should have been enough on its own, but it wasn't her main motivator. The fact Aayla would be admitting that she couldn't handle this, the idea that she would have to run to Harry or her master to help her just like Harry had to on Tatooine, this was what drove her. That thought galled Aayla more than it really should have for a Jedi, even a padawan, pushing Aayla to be a little more reckless than she should honestly have been against two unknown, lightsaber wielding Force sensitives of unknown power and abilities.

But the concern that she should have felt against this unknown threat didn't register. The thought uppermost in her mind was simply, _I am not a kriffing damsel in distress!_

"What, not going to even call for help? How boooring," said the woman who had been nearest the cutter. She looked at Aayla closely for a moment, frowning as if she felt something there but couldn't quite make it out, which was in fact the case. They could sense something was unusual about this Twi'lek Jedi, but not what. It was making them slightly more wary of Aayla than would otherwise have been the case given the Rutian Twi'lek's age, but their inherent arrogance was overcoming that. "As for names, mine is Sister Veroa, and this is Sister Mature."

The Night Sisters were a sect of Force users who traditionally stayed on their own planet of Dathomir, due to both agreements with the Jedi Order and with the majority of the planet's Force-using population. While the planet itself was not in the Outer Rim, it was very low-tech, and the Force was strong there, shown in the sheer number of Force users the planet produced. Most of those Force users, however, kept to the light side of things, even if their ways were nowhere near the Jedi norm. This was why the Jedi had never forced the planet into compliance.

The Night Sisters, however, did not subscribe to the beliefs of the rest of the planet. They were a sect that reached out to the Dark Side and to a version of it that looked almost like magic to those who witnessed their high ceremonies.

Veroa and Mature were two of a few Night Sisters who had been sent off-planet, their services loaned out to underworld criminals and other types of that nature as bodyguards and assassins in exchange for supplies for their planet. Their present job had been most unpleasant, keeping the Falleen's pheromones from effecting them and dodging his attempts to flirt with them was a full time job. Despite that, the task paid well, and it looked to be interesting now despite the recent events.

The plan had been to wait until most of the attackers were busy fighting inside the base before trying to get away, then extorting lots and lots of money out of their employer, but that could wait until they dealt with the child Jedi facing them. _We did not expect a confrontation with the Jedi, but neither will we run from it!_ A _chance to prove ourselves against the cursed light siders does not come along often, after all._

"I'll say it again," Aayla said, her voice calm as she centered herself in the Force, turning slightly around in a circle to stare first at one so-called Night Sister then the other. "I have no quarrel with you two, only your employer."

"You want him, come take him," Veroa said with a scoff as she took up a position between their employer and the little Jedi. Both sisters assumed the Jedi would try to grab him and run rather than fight two on one like this, since most Jedi were known as cowards and weaklings among the Night Sisters.

"If I have to," Aayla said, then darted, not towards Sister Veroa, but towards Sister Mature, her lightsabers flashing up. But for a split second one of her hands was actually pointing over her shoulder. As she brought her lightsaber downwards in a stroke towards Mature, a finger flicked out, sending a stunning technique towards Sister Veroa.

Veroa blinked, then her lightsaber flashed once, impacting the Force technique, whatever it was, before she charged Aayla's back. "So the Jedi have learned some new tricks. It won't save you!"

Sister Mature didn't say anything, her lightsaber flashing this way and that as she and Aayla danced around one another. Then Aayla turned away slightly, bringing her other lightsaber around in an arc to block Sister Veroa's first blow, deflecting and attacking with both of her slightly shorter blades.

For the next few moments all three of them twisted, danced, jumped, and leaped around one another. The two Night Sisters used a variant of Ataru to match Aayla's Jar'kai, with more attacks and punches and kicks in their style than the normal variant. Despite that, Aayla's Jar'kai gave her a notable edge in comparison to what the two were used to when sparring with one another. But the two Night Sisters fought as a team, pressing Aayla hard.

Occasionally Aayla struck out with a Force technique that they hadn't seen before. For instance, a red colored wave of Force which nearly took Sister Mature in the face once, despite having seen Aayla lob a similar one earlier towards Veroa. Another attack was a blast of cutting air.

But Veroa's Force Precognition warned her, and she ducked underneath it just in time, bringing up her lightsaber to nearly slice Aayla's forearm off. But the Twi'lek had twisted to one side just enough for the attack to miss, lashing out with a kick that caught Veroa in the chest, hurling her backwards.

Mature pressed in before Aayla could capitalize, landing a kick and a punch even as her own lightsaber was directed to one side by Aayla's defense, forcing the Twi'lek backwards and away from her teammate.

Under the impetus of one kick Aayla allowed herself to roll backwards before flinging herself further into a midair barrel roll to get more space faster than Mature could follow. Then she lashed out with more air attacks, coming from both her outstretched hands still holding her lightsabers using her lightsabers to actually direct the attack.

The Night Sisters in return began to jump all around, dodging the attacks while they reached out with the Force, grabbing up the crates all around them and hurling them at the Jedi. This forced Aayla to stop her own assault, and she reached out with her own Force powers in a new configuration. The air in front of the would-be missiles solidified under her direction into the consistency of mud for a moment, slowing then stopping the flotsam.

For a moment the two sides stared at one another, and then Mature spat to one side before speaking up for the first time. "Not bad."

Aayla nodded once. "You too."

Then they all raced forward again, and for the next few seconds none of them used Force techniques except for Precognition, letting their lightsabers do the talking. Aayla realized during this exchange that she couldn't fight both of them like this, lightsaber to lightsaber. They were just too good! Slowly they were overcoming her Force Precognition, nearly breaking through her defenses. _That's all right. I have other techniques in my bag of tricks!_

When Aayla felt she had a chance to trap one of her attackers into a mistake, she took it without hesitation. Instead of attacking as her assailants predicted, she took up a defensive stance for just a split second, a seeming weakness that Veroa could not stop herself from attacking. Her lightsaber flashed out in an attack to the alien's side that should have bisected the Twi'lek.

But instead Veroa gasped as a Force Shield appeared around Aayla's side, taking the blow. Aayla could feel the Shield fading, but it lasted long enough. One of Aayla's lightsaber's took the surprised Veroa in the throat, the plasma blade bisecting her neck without even pausing before the Night Sister could recover from rage-induced lunge.

In response Mature howled, the sound vibrating in Aayla's ears as she made the Force reverberate with the power of her hate. It was all Aayla could do to not drop her lightsabers and reach to cover her ears as the woman bellowed. But a quick silencing technique over herself protected Aayla so that she didn't have to, which saved her life in the next few seconds. Her concentration on her Force Shield having faded under the auditory assault, Aayla had to rely just on her lightsabers again to defend her from Mature's furious assault. Even so the Night Sister's attack got through here and there to burn Aayla's skin in a series of close calls, causing her nearly enough pain to drop her blades anyway.

But she didn't, and having slipped into a modified Soresu stance Aayla weathered her opponent's assault. Then, when she sensed Mature beginning to run out of steam, Aayla once again changed the battlefield, conjuring up a series of air attacks behind her and launching them forward.

Mature deflected or absorbed two of them with her lightsaber, but couldn't stop Aayla from going on the attack now. She furiously brought her lightsaber down with enough Force to Force Aayla to use both of her lightsabers to block a blow directed at her side but Aayla used one lightsaber to carry Mature's blade down to the ground pinning it there with her other blade for a second, freeing her first to lash up and cut through the other woman right below her shoulders. Mature's body fell in two pieces, and Aayla stepped back, watching as it hit the ground with a thump.

Exhaling once, Aayla brought her lightsabers up in a salute, then turned them off, sliding them onto her belt. "I wonder what these Night Sisters are supposed to be? Good fighters, whatever they were." She stood there for a moment looking down at the bodies of her former opponents before moving over to the body of the gangster boss, hitting him with a stun bolt for good measure.

Up close she could see that he was a Falleen. They were a green-skinned semi-reptilian race who were normally thought to be quite handsome and which could breed with many other races, something which was helped along by the pheromones they let out which affected the bodies of the opposite gender of many species.

At the moment, though, Aayla frankly couldn't see it. Not with this one, anyway. He was fat, overweight, and looked almost sallow faced on top of it. "So one of Zule's parents was a Falleen Like this… If you're an example of what the men look like, I hope it was her mother."

With that she reached down and grabbed his foot, then looked over at the bodies of the two Night Sisters. With a brief moment of concentration both the Night Sisters and the lightsabers rose into the air. She tied off the Force powering the technique, and they floated, following behind her as she made her way back down to the hidden passageway.

She was met at the entrance not by Master Quinlan as she thought she would be, but by Harry, with Lily hovering in the air above him. Though she had, of course, felt Harry's presence long before she came within sight of him.

Lily leaned down to buss Aayla on the cheek while Aayla gratefully allowed Harry to take over levitating the two dead bodies behind her. After he had, she crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him mock-accusingly. "Were you trying to run to my rescue again?"

"Not at all," Harry said with aplomb. "I never doubted you for a moment."

Aayla suddenly giggled, her brief flicker of irritation leaving her at Harry's acting, and she leaned up slightly to kiss him lovingly on the lips, delighting in the feel of them against her own and his arms around her even as she sent the thought through their link, _"liar."_

Harry could only nod agreement to that, knowing that she had felt the truth through their bond. In return Harry felt Aayla's determination to never need rescuing again, which he acknowledged, but refuted by saying he would always be there if she ever did need it.

Rolling her eyes, Aayla acknowledged that point but fired back with, _"Just make sure I need rescuing in the first place, okay?"_ Then her mental self put Harry's in a headlock until he acquiesced, and the two of them returned their concentration to the physical plane.

Walking with Harry down the corridors of the base, Aayla noticed the looks Harry was getting from the various Wookies, who would stop and raise their fists to him. He occasionally stopped to talk to a few of them before moving on, slapping backs and basically getting along with all of them. _"So, I take it you've made friends?"_

" _Definitely a mutual respect sort of thing, at the very least,"_ Harry said with a chuckle through their link while exchanging hand clasps with one of the larger, older Wookies.

Master Dooku and Master Fay then appeared around a bend in the corridor, walking towards them. The two padawans bowed formally, and Master Dooku acknowledged them with a nod while Master Fay stepped forward, enfolding them in a gentle hug and kissing them lightly on the foreheads. Aayla shivered a little at that. She'd not gotten used to the fact that Master Fay was so much more touchy-feely than she had been while on the _Explorer_. Aayla loved it, but it was just unusual for a Jedi to be so effusive, though of course any other individual would have scoffed at the very idea that such gentle touches could be called effusive at all.

"And what have you discovered for us here, Padawan Secura?" Master Dooku asked, looking at the two bodies, or rather four pieces of two bodies hovering behind Harry and Aayla.

"I…" Aayla paused, then shrugged her shoulders. "I honestly don't know, Master Dooku. These two were Dark Side users. They didn't use any real Force powers other than telekinesis and precognition, so I don't know if they're half trained or what, but I felt their hate and anger around them in the Force, and it definitely gave them power…"

Dooku held up a hand, forestalling further discussion there as he moved forward to look at the two bodies, which Harry obligingly floated forward. After a moment he nodded thoughtfully. "Night Sisters."

"That's they called themselves, yes. But I've never heard the name before," Aayla replied just as Quinlan and Komari came within sight down the corridor. He was followed by several other Wookies, who immediately began to bark orders to the surrounding Wookies as they passed them, organizing them.

"They are a sect of Force users from a planet named Dathomir. The planet itself has hundreds of Force users broken into a dozen or so clans, and only the Night Sisters, a single clan among many, have fallen to the Dark Side," Fay said thoughtfully.

Harry frowned. "Um, don't take this the wrong way, Master, but why hasn't the Jedi Order moved against them? Given the way the High Council reacted to the revelations about my mother and I and the lengths we've had to go to in order to keep my abilities a secret, it doesn't seem as if the Order is all that open to other Force users operating outside their purview."

The deadpan manner in which Harry delivered this line caused Lily to snort in laughter. "Mastered the technique of understatement, you have, hrhrhrm…." Lily said, imitating Yoda's speech patterns, which caused both padawans to grin.

"Because the rest of the planet is not willing to join the Order, and there are, as I said, hundreds of Force users there, possibly as many as two thousand. Bringing the entire planet to heel would mean war, and what would be the point? Most of the Dathomiri witches follow the Light, it is only a single clan that does not, as Master Dooku said," Master Fay replied with a smile at her friend's antics, while Dooku merely rolled his eyes. "I actually have been there in my travels. They are not exactly gentle, but they are a learned and ancient people."

Harry nodded but looked over at his mother quizzically. "Witches?"

"Master Fay and I talked about them, but their 'magic' isn't anything like ours Harry. Don't worry. If it had been we would have mentioned it to you before this," Lily replied, before chuckling. "Actually, we would've mentioned it to you anyway if their entire society wasn't so matriarchal. Men there are second-class citizens, and I know you well enough to know you wouldn't put up with that kind of thing even for a short visit."

"Yeah, I'd probably start a revolt there," Harry muttered, scratching at the scar on his forehead sheepishly.

"As amusing as this discussion is, I believe that we need to discuss this one," Dooku said, a flick of his hand encompassing the unconscious Falleen.

Master Fay looked at him, her lips twitching almost into a scowl. The amount of arrogance she had felt off this one during her earlier telepathic assault had astonished her.

"Master Fay, will you join me in the interrogation? I feel we need to get as much as we can out of him as quickly as possible just in case he has anything we can use to shut down further criminal activities," Dooku stated. "Knight Vos, I will need you as well for this. Your knowledge of the criminal element may allow us to better direct our questions."

"Done," Master Fay said briskly. "I can tell if he's lying, and I can also use my abilities to Force him to be more complacent and compliant without any undue physical or mental stress. Knight Vosa, can I trust you to continue to organize the ground work here while the medical teams get to work?"

"Of course, Master Fay," the younger woman said briskly,

"The space fortress also has a unregistered Holonet emitter, which we will be using to contact the Jedi Order shortly. After that," Dooku said thoughtfully, "I'm thinking of having it dismantled and stored for us on one of the Wookies' ships. I'm certain I can find a use for that later."

The Order, of course, had several small Holonet emitters, but they were few and far between because they were expensive to build and also technically illegal. The Republic controlled the Holonet relay system. It was one of the main sources of its income as a body, as well as it its power to control communication galaxy-wide. Even the Jedi Order would get in trouble if anyone knew they had those emitters, though tracing them, of course, was an issue.

 **OOOOOOO**

Master Ranicisis looked up from his meditation. he had not left the High Council's room for several days, preferring to eat and drink what little he needed here for a time as he got used to the workload of becoming Master of the Order. His respect for Master Windu had tripled in that time, as the amount of paperwork and organization that went into this position simply astonished him. He had begun, however, to slowly re-mold the position already, forcing other Council members to take up some of the position's paperwork and oversight of the Councils of First Knowledge, Reassignment, and Reconciliation.

Handling the council of First Knowledge Master Yoda and Yaddle were remarkably well-suited for, though both, of course, also had other jobs. He had also tasked Master Gallia to oversee the Council of Reassignment, so that further missions like the one Padawan Secura had been on would never even be considered without numerous and multiple backups in place.

Ranicisis was meditating on a few other mission requests coming from the Senate directly to him rather than to said Council, when the signal of an incoming Holonet call roused him. When the holographic screen in the center of the room popped into place, he saw Master Dooku on the other end in a very primitive holographic device, showing that it was not a full signal array.

Immediately upon seeing the old human master Ranicisis began to speak. "Master Dooku, I have a report here that you and the Chancellor were working together on some kind of project recently? Is this what this call is about?"

"That particular objective is actually finished, but it landed us a lot of information that I think the Order needs to follow up on. It seems that the Black Sun is not nearly as dead as we could hope, and powerful players within it are trying to reform it under their banner."

Master Ranicisis listened as Master Dooku went into detail on the interrogation of the man they had captured. His name was Dorset, and he was very high up in what was becoming known as the Falleen crime family. As Dooku said, they were trying to take over all of the Black Sun's disparate, splintered groups. As one of their highest members and one who supplied them all with material and slaves, Dorset knew everything about them: every contact they had, everything, including a lot of their illegitimate businesses and the number of senators who were on the take. There were even a few entire governments who were implicated in Dorset's information.

This was without a doubt the largest windfall of knowledge in terms of the criminal underbelly the Jedi Order had seen in the past thirty years. Ranicisis knew it, and knew they would have to act on it quickly. "Very well. And you say Knight Quinlan Vos will be arriving here on Coruscant with a full readout of the report soon?"

"Knight Vos has already left, so he should be there within a day at most."

"Excellent. That gives me time to talk with the Chancellor and free up enough Consulars and Sentinels to move on the planets you have mentioned in groups of three or more."

Dooku's eyebrow visibly rose in the pickup despite the poor quality of the image. "Truly, that large a force?"

"Indeed. When you have pulled one thread, you don't stop until the entire spider web is pulled apart," Ranicisis said solemnly. "The Consulars will grab everyone's attention before we actually arrest the individuals involved. The Sentinels will get to work on figuring out their contacts and hacking into their computer systems to follow that specific threat to more. Indeed, given the number of threads you have given us we might need help on that aspect, hence my need to meet with the Chancellor.

"Well done, Master Dooku," Ranicisis said after falling silent for a moment. "I had concerns about the original concept behind the attack because you allowed so little information out before launching it, but it has definitely served your purpose and ours." He nodded his head at the far younger man, who bowed his head formally, his hands pressed together in front of his chest.

There had been a time when Dooku and Master Ranicisis had not gotten along. Master Ranicisis had thought young Padawan Dooku arrogant, and youngling Dooku even worse. Indeed, he had found Master Dooku and his quest for knowledge which was beyond that allowed to the Jedi as a sign of arrogance which could all too easily lead him to the Dark Side. But that was in the past, and Dooku had matured quite well in the past few years. "We will talk more later about a project Master Windu said you were working on. But for now I think I need to get on this."

Dooku nodded, and they connection ended.

For a few more moments Ranicisis sat in silent thought, before inputting the command to contact the Chancellor's office and telling the Nabooan native that Ranicisis was on his way over.

 **OOOOOOO**

The Chancellor leaned back, staring into the distance thoughtfully, and for once the thoughtful expression on his face was not feigned. "You're talking about corruption on the greatest level here, or at least that is what you are hinting at. I will want to see a transcript of this Falleen Dorset's interrogation. I trust there was no actual torture involved? I realize I shouldn't have to ask, but it is part of a pro forma after all."

"Of course not, though I understand, of course, why you asked," Ranicisis said, nodding his head equably. "However, we must move on this quickly."

"Yes, we must…" Inside Sidious his mind was awhirl with the possibilities.

Plagueis was not yet on Coruscant, he had stopped over at Waypoint to drop off the cloning cylinders he had bought from the Kaminoans, as well as to check on a few of his projects. Sidious was rather irritated by that; he had hoped to finally do away with the old man, but Sidious knew Plagueis well enough to know that he'd remain there for a time simply tinkering around his precious projects. Yet this left Sidious alone to act on this information, which was all to the good in his mind. As it was, it left Sidious to handle this unexpected windfall.

For the next few hours he and Ranicisis worked together to put the forces, both Jedi and Republic inspectors, in place to watch the names and planets Dorset's interrogation had given them. They did not move on the senators he had named, however, because Palpatine had bluntly told Ranicisis there was no way they could indict them on the evidence they had. Both senators were respected by their peers and came from powerful Core World systems, and there had not been a hint of any wrong doing there.

However Palpatine decided that after all the other contacts had been used as much as possible to find other, as Ranicisis put it, threads, the Chancellor would let loose the information about the two senators to the rest of the Senate through a few back room cutouts. Once they knew someone had the information, the two would either batten down or flee. If they fled that would be enough of a sign of guilt to move against them directly. If they battened down or showed any sign of being prepared for it, then this would allow Palpatine the chance to see what senatorial aides, workers, or others were on their payrolls, and thus help him in cleaning house.

Elsewhere, this information would allow the Chancellor to force the recall of two Ord-system admirals and several Sector Governors. This in turn would allow him to put his own people in their places, thus making the Sith's position even stronger through the Jedi's own actions. He would even be able to do so without Plagueis knowing, which was all to the good.

 _This,_ Sidious thought as he leaned back in his chair as Ranicisis left hours later, _this is the exaltation!_ _The Jedi are so intent on doing good, so intent on serving the Republic. But every time they do, every time they move against something they perceive as a threat, I can turn it to my advantage so easily! This so a sign that the Force itself, not just the Dark Side but the Force as a whole is turning to me, creating opportunities like that. The Force in its entirety is on my side. My ascension is the future, and the Jedi have none!_

Yet even as Sidious thought that, there were other things in motion that would not have pleased him at all if he could but know the long term ramifications...

 **OOOOOOO**

After about three hours of work, Master Dooku decided that the cleanup here would take days, days which most of their forces could use to be returned home or to be of better use elsewhere. For one thing, thanks to the speed of their attack, the Falleen leading the defense hadn't been able to get out any kind of message. That meant among other things that the rogue privateer fleet didn't know their true employer had been eliminated.

To that end, the moment he was off the Holonet with Master Ranicisis, Dooku sent all three of the Serenno starfighters squadrons to join their fellows, the group of starfighters, system patrol boats, and retrofitted corvettes which had been slotted for the attack on the privateers. With that added firepower, the battle was pretty much certain to go in their favor there, and with the Chancellor himself running political interference, none of the Jedi would need to be on hand for that.

True to his word, Master Dooku also sent Quinlan to Coruscant immediately after the initial interrogation of Dorset was finished, but the other Jedi decided to travel with the Nabooans and the other slaves back to Naboo on the troop transports and other vessels they could commandeer. Here the Lucrehulk Padme had stripped of its weapons and sent along with them proved its worth, allowing the victorious Jedi to transport all of the slaves taken from Naboo and the others who had remained on the station.

This added a further two thousand people, mostly broken, emotionally and physically shattered wrecks, to the over ten thousand Nabooans. They would have to be looked after, mostly by Naboo at first, but eventually just like after their return to Sorenno, the ex-slaves would have to be transported home. It would take time and much therapy before they would really be able to realize that their time as slaves was over.

Harry had the fantastic idea of getting Shmi Skywalker and some of the other slaves who had been freed from Tatooine and remained on Sorenno to come and talk to them. Fay and Dooku thought that an excellent idea, and decided to send for Shmi from Naboo. Shmi and three other slaves from Tatooine would stay on Naboo to work with the slaves for nearly a year before returning to Sorenno.

The Nabooans, in contrast to the other, older slaves, were more physically battered than emotionally, and only a few scattered women-folk had been abused. Evidently the Falleen had wanted to sell the majority as untouched merchandise.

All of them, both new and older slaves, had the diabolical explosive devices used on slaves galaxy wide emplaced in their necks or along their spines. Master Fay, with Aayla and Harry's help, quickly began to remove them, but it would be a long, ongoing process, and they could continue it on the way to Naboo, which would have hospitals and doctors able to handle the tragedy.

The Jedi left about a hundred Wookies under the command of a Wookie chieftain named Cuornivaccca and Knight Vosa to continue to see to the rounding up and securing of all the prisoners from the space fortress and the ground installation. The rest of them took the Lucrehulk, whose old name had been scorched from its hull, back to Naboo.

On Naboo the Jedi found the entire planet ready to receive the ex-slaves. The Lucrehulk was met in orbit by hundreds or security and government personnel, who organized the slaves into groups, making certain what few families had been kidnapped together stayed that way, while at the same time making certain those slaves who had yet to have the explosives embedded in them removed remained together, bringing up further medical personnel.

The Jedi didn't even have to take part in this process, so prepared were the Nabooans for the return of their fellow citizens, something Dooku remarked upon in glowing terms as they were escorted through the palace barely an hour after their arrival in orbit. "I have to say that I was rather leery of Queen Amidala before this. She was personally courageous and intelligent certainly, but a leader needs to have an ability to organize more than anything else. This, however, and the swiftness she showed initially in moving to aid us, shows much promise."

The whuffing chuckles of the numerous Wookie leaders around them answered this comment, as the other three Jedi currently with Master Dooku simply nodded. Aayla, however, was rather worried, which she informed Harry about via their mental link. _"I hope Padme has gotten some sleep since we left. She was running on the ragged edge when we stopped here before."_

 _"I'm certain she has, Aayla. Don't worry,"_ Harry soothed. _"Padme's too sensible to keep pushing herself like she was, whatever the reason. Besides, I wouldn't put it past Sabe or that other one, Eirtae?, to put something in her tea to knock her out if need be."_

Aayla nearly giggled aloud at that. _"Okay, I was going to call you naïve for the whole 'Padme's sensible enough' idea, but the second point I can agree with."_

A few moments later the Jedi, Wookies, and, unseen by all, Lily Potter, were escorted into the throne room. Several men and women in formal robes were standing to either side of the main throne at the far end of the hall, while a space was kept clear around the throne, save for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Even the handmaids were not present.

The queen sat in her full formal regalia, complete with her face done up in the formal, chalk-white style with red highlights and lips. It should have looked regal, but to the two Jedi padawans it just looked ridiculous. Especially since both could tell that the young woman wearing that getup at present was not Padme Amidala.

" _Are we really going to do this again?"_ Harry muttered through their link as he and Aayla fell to one side and slightly behind Master Fay and Master Dooku. That was the traditional place for Jedi padawans who were being part of a ceremony like this, though Master Dooku was substituting for Master Vos at present.

" _I think we pricked her pride when we outed her as a princess back on Tatooine,"_ Aayla replied, then brightened up. _"Or maybe she's actually begun to delegate things like this kind of folderol to other people."_

" _That would make sense,"_ Harry sent back as the Queen's body double began to formally give the Jedi thanks for returning her people. It went on for a while, as Master Fay and Master Dooku refused any awards or anything of that nature, and Master Dooku spoke of the battle and the state the slaves had been when they rescued them. He said nothing whatsoever about having taken Dorset alive, and indeed any kind of details were very lacking and would remain so until Master Ranicisis's other operations were finished.

Eventually the meeting wound down, and the body double dressed up as the Queen intoned, "But you are no doubt tired from your journey. I'll have one of my handmaids escort you to your rooms for the day."

At a gesture the door into the throne room opened, and three handmaidens entered. One of them Harry and Alice and the other Jedi immediately spotted as Padme herself.

There was just something odd about Padme Amidala's presence in the Force. It wasn't a Jedi's presence, Aayla thought, but it was far brighter, far more colorful perhaps than most normal people's. It was hard to describe, but Padme's aura stood out among normal people's like a slightly diffuse beacon among glow-bugs.

"If you will come this way, Masters Jedi," said the young woman, with the very familiar voice, bowing her head.

"Of course," Master Dooku said dryly. "Lead the way, please."

The moment the doors to the throne room closed behind them and they were alone in the hallway, Aayla laughed, pulling Padme into a hug. "You really think you're fooling anyone?" she asked, chuckling while Dooku rolled his eyes at the display, and Harry and the others laughed.

Padme chuckled too, putting her arms around the other girl for a brief but heartfelt hug, shaking her head at the same time. "No, not really, but you were right the last time we talked. I need to delegate more of my workload. The others all agreed, but Sabe was rather appalled when I simply decided to foist off all of the ceremonial stuff onto her shoulders."

At that Padme let out a wicked little chortle, but it could not hide the fact that she was still exhausted. A normal monarch's day was a busy one. A monarch cleaning up after an occupation, even setting aside Padme's concern for those among her people who had been taken away to be slaves, was far worse. There were just far too many demands on Padme's time to fit into a single day.

"And has that allowed you to actually get some sleep?" Harry said intently, while Master Dooku and Master Fay looked on.

"Sleep, what is this foreign concept?" Padme quipped, but she wilted under Master Fay's suddenly narrow-eyed stare. "I'll get some sleep eventually, I suppose. But come, we can't simply linger here in the hallway."

Padme led them all into a small, well-appointed sitting room, not the normal one where she met with other delegates or government officials, but a more personal one, and then began to bustle about the room preparing some tea. By the time she had set the tea down onto the small table set between the chairs in the middle of the room, Harry had brought out a small plate of pastries. She snagged one quickly, chomping down on it happily as she sat down, facing them, somehow still managing to speak intelligibly with a full mouth. "Now, is there anything about that operation you can tell me? I presume you were being light on details in there because of operational security."

Dooku up put yet another tally behind Padme's name as an actually decent leader for all she was only fourteen. The very concept of a fourteen-year-old head of state should have been bizarre, but in this case it seemed to be working. "I take it you were watching?"

"Security cameras with scattered microphones all around the throne room," Padme said quickly. "So was that a yes on the operational security question?"

"Unfortunately yes," Dooku replied. "What I can tell you, however, is that your people performed quite admirably, and we only lost three starfighters in total during the space battle. Two of their pilots were recovered, but I'm afraid Lieutenant Parker lost his life in the final stages of the initial engagement."

Padme nodded. She had known the lieutenant, of course. Not personally, but all the pilots had been volunteers, and she said so. "Indeed, I think Lieutenant Parker had a few cousins among those who had been stolen away. I have no doubt if asked he would gladly have given his life to free them."

The door behind them opened at that point, and Obi-Wan stepped in. He looked much better than the last time everyone had seen him and crossed the room quickly to sit down in another chair, bowing his head to the two masters. "Master Fay, Master Dooku. Have I missed anything?"

Fay shook her head, smiling lightly. "You're looking much better, young Kenobi. Are you going to be heading back to Coruscant soon?"

"That is the plan. Queen Amidala has most everything here under control, even if she is slowly driving herself to madness due to lack of sleep," he teased gently.

"Oh, ha, ha, ha," Padme drawled, shaking your head. "As if you were getting much more sleep than I was until last night. Don't let him fool you, he's been working as hard as anyone, and I swear he's gotten less sleep than I have."

"The Jedi teach ways to control the body and its desires for sleep and food, Padme," Harry riposted with a shake of the head. "I suppose we could try to teach them to you, but I don't know how much you'd get out of it with not being a Force user yourself. Sorry."

"Don't be. It isn't as if I would be able to devote the time necessary to learn them anyway." Padme waved her hand airily, her every move showing she was living as much on caffeine as food. "When can we expect the two squadrons we sent with you back?"

"We left them to aid the cleanup under chief Cuornivaccca. They'll be gathering physical evidence and piling up the prisoners. I've already told the Wookies that because they supplied the majority of the ground troops, despite that planet technically falling in the Chommel sector's jurisdiction, they will be extradited to Kashyyyk for trial."

Padme winced, shaking her head. "And eventual execution, then. I might not know much about Wookies, but I do know that they are death on slavers. Not that I can find it in me any longer to say that they're wrong about that. Still, I presume you're going to need the Lucrehulk back for that?"

"No, we left the majority of the Wookie transports there, so they'll simply head back to Kashyyyk on their own. The prisoners won't matter much to their ships' air circulation systems." Dooku replied.

"Why do the Lucrehulks bother you?" Harry asked, cocking his head quizzically.

"The Chancellor has passed on a request from the Senate to hand them over as soon as possible, and now that my people have been returned I have scant reason not to accede to that request. They have a point, of course. Combined those ships represent a dangerous force for any one planet to own," Padme replied, then went on to describe her conversations with the Chancellor and what he wanted to do with them. The idea of adding them to the Republic Navy, which outside the Ord System patrol fleets was a small and anemic force beyond the Core Worlds, was a good idea, though Dooku wondered whether it was actually a possible one. The other idea, the idea of using one as a humanitarian aid vessel, was a concept Master Fay quite liked.

"But they are prizes that you and your people took, aren't they?" Harry asked frowning. "Surely you're due some recompense."

"We have the weapons, the droids, the starfighters, even the tanks that made up the TF's army. Which is the other part of that equation," Padme replied. "Most of their forces were taken intact, hence why everyone is leery of us having control the Lucrehulks. Using the weapons to from a defensive army is fine, even a fleet, so long as we don't have the means to project that force elsewhere."

The queen chuckled, leaning back in her chair, munching on another pastry before continuing. "It isn't as if Naboo actually has the industry to keep them running anyway. We've never been a large industrial center. Small specialized ships, yes, like my own yacht, we can design and even build. But we don't have the means to service ships that large, nor the sheer number of Vulture starfighters we took intact thanks to Anakin's bravery. In fact, we're going to be hard-pressed to even keep up the maintenance on the infantry style droids we took, let alone their machines. Just another headache I have to deal with," Padme finished with a long sigh.

Aayla looked at Harry, having felt a sudden spike of interest from him. "What are you thinking, Harry?"

"Well, it strikes me that the main issue with the Lucrehulks is both enormous size, and that you've got four of them, correct?"

"That and the fact that as I've just said we can't service them, Harry," Padme said tartly, a little miffed that Harry seemed to not have listened to her for a moment there.

"I understand that, but sometimes… well, Master Fay's always told me that if you have several problems, sometimes you can sort of set them against one another to become solutions. And it occurs to me that while the Wookies joined us on this mission for the sake of friendship with Count Dooku and the respect they bore him and the Jedi Order, that doesn't mean they shouldn't be paid for it."

As everyone turned to him Harry went on thoughtfully. "And Serenno **has** that industrial capacity. How long, or should I say, how much would it be worth to set that kind of thing up here? Industrial platforms, orbital repair yards, that sort of thing."

None of the other people in the room knew the answer to that question, but it was an intriguing idea, as was the idea of paying the Wookies. Master Dooku smiled faintly, exchanging a glance with Master Fay as he stood up. "I think I will go and see if one of the Wookie leaders can join us. Does this room have access to the palace's Holonet relay?"

"It does," Padme said, swiftly standing up and moving over to a desk in one corner, pressing a few buttons. A second later a screen rose up out of it.

Master Fay joined her, smiling slightly. "I think we need to get in touch with the Council of Counts on Sorenno."

"Actually, Harry," Lily said from the air above them, audible yet again only to the Jedi of course, "I am interested in that giant Lucrehulk ship too."

They looked up at her as Padme frowned, realizing once again that Lily must have said something. Fay replied for them all. "Really, what interests you about it?"

"Well, it's already so large, and you and I have used space expansion charms on your ship. Think about how much space we could fit into a ship that's already that huge!"

While Fay immediately became interested in that idea for the amount of carrying capacity such a ship would have, Harry was more interested in the defensive aspects. "If we did that, we could double up the generator runs to all of the shield capacitors and load enough starfighters and workers in it to make a massive army!"

"I'm just going to ignore the aspects of this conversation that I have no idea about and put the rest in a file marked 'not my business,'" Padme said dryly, shaking her head as the door opened to admit Master Dooku and several of the Wookies.

The conversation from then on centered around the Lucrehulks and what they would do with them. At first the Wookies were a little irritated about what was going on and the idea of being paid for helping their friends. But it was pointed out to them that Naboo was not actually among their friends or allies before this, and they had done Naboo a tremendous service. Master Fay also brought up a point of contention between them and the Trade Federation a few years back about the Wookie colony of Alaris Prime.

The mention of the jungle moon and its colony brought sharp roars and snarls from the Wookies, who still remembered the confrontation they had with the TF about the mining rights for that planet. Many Wookies had died against the TF's droids during that conflict before the Jedi could step in and resolve things. The TF had been forced to back down, leaving the moon entirely, but had not been forced to pay reparations, something the Wookies had been enraged about at the time. Receiving an entire Lucrehulk to do whatever they wished to would be a way to poke the TF in the eye.

After that the Wookies were on board with the idea, but they also demanded that they pay for the ship in some ongoing manner.

Here Aayla spoke up. "Padme, how many of your palace guard survived the fight to reclaim the planet?"

"Barely any," Padme said with a sigh. "We lost several of them against pockets of resistance here and there in the palace, and more died against the droidekas before we were able to take control of the control center and those within it. And of course my captain was ambushed and killed by that Dark Side user."

The Wookies looked at one another at that, not having heard about events here on Naboo, but the Jedi merely nodded and Aayla went on. "Well then, we've seen firsthand how good Wookies are in a fight. Why not have the Wookies assign a group of their warriors to protect you during your reign as Queen in payment for the ship?"

"/That would work,/" said one of the Wookies, chuffing good-naturedly. "/As would sending a hundred or so of our engineers and technicians to help emplace these industrial platforms that Serenno will be sending. Yes, that will meet the demands of both honor and pride./"

"And friendship, I hope. Though I'll warn you it won't be a sinecure," Padme said with a chuckle. "And I will probably need a translator for at least the first few months to a year. I do not wish to cause offense, but while the Jedi are helping my mind translate your words at the moment, I won't be able to do so myself."

"/That's not a problem,/" said one of the Wookies shaking his head. He held out a small, tiny box, then flicked it on with a dew claw. "We have long figured out ways to translate our words using simple communication devices like this. We simply prefer not to, because we think that most other species talk too much."

Laughter rang around the room at that, and not just from the Wookies, after which the meeting continued.

One of the other Lucrehulks would be sent to Serenno immediately. There it will be put to work for Count Luther and several of the other counts who had lost ships to the pirate scourge in return for trade agreements with Naboo, the industrial platforms Harry had talked about, and even more. Padme pushed hard for a planetary shield generator, which Serennohad and could supply the parts for. For that agreement and a few defense arrays, Naboo would supply starfighter technicians, designers, and raw materials to Serenno just like many of its other trade partners.

With its gas giants Serenno had all of its gas needs covered energy cells or anything else, but metals, in particular super-dense ones which could be found mostly in asteroids, it needed to get from elsewhere for the most part. And unlike Naboo, Serenno had never developed a starfighter design of its own, which they wanted to do going forward. The Kuat-designed CloakShape and Delta 6s were okay, but not great. Moreover they wanted to be able to build their own variety on hand and in large numbers, which were much more expensive to buy than produce locally.

At Lily's insistence, that particular ship would revert to the Jedi Order's hands after the Counts had recouped their losses. At that point Master Fay and Lily would go to work on it, though no one outside the Jedi understood what that meant and could mean in the future. That would be several months down the line, but even so it was too good an opportunity to pass up, even if Master Fay was a little leery about how powerful that ship would be eventually. The others all simply thought that the Jedi would use it as either a training ship, like the _Explorer_ , or a humanitarian aid vessel of monstrous size, just like the one that Naboo would be sending to the Senate.

That left one of the Lucrehulks in Naboo control, where it would be turned into an in-system freight hauler and defense vessel. It was most certainly a step down from plying the merchant ways, king of all it surveyed and master of its domain in no uncertain terms, with enough firepower to lay waste to most planets. But all of those involved found it a fitting it way to deal with the ships that had brought such hardship to Naboo.

Reaching a verbal agreement with everyone took only about an hour or so, but putting it down into legalese took several hours, and it was deep night by the time they were finished, at which point the group broke up. The youngsters, Padme, her maids, and the two padawans went on a kitchen raid for some food, while Fay and Obi-Wan moved to the room's balcony to talk quietly, with Lily hovering in the air above them, interjecting her own soft comments to the young man who had recently lost his master and father figure.

As Dooku made to leave to seek out his own room, one of the counts called him back to the pickup. "That boy, Harry. He is the one that thought up this idea isn't he? He was pushing hard for it all throughout the discussion."

"He haggled like damn fishmonger on market day for Naboo and us in turn. I mean, honestly, what side was he supposed to be on?" said another one who owned a lot of real estate along the oceanfront on Serenno. But there was a distinct note of approval in his voice despite the grumpy words.

"Yes," Dooku said simply.

The count who had initially spoken up stared hard into the pickup at Dooku, saying simply "Pity he's a Jedi then, isn't it?"

"Perhaps," Dooku countered with a faint smile, "perhaps."

 **OOOOOOO**

Padme, her maids, Aayla, and Harry stayed up a little longer to talk, sitting around Padme's bedroom, the maids and Padme on a single small sofa, the two padawans sharing a love seat. The Nabooan girls all leaned against the sofa or one another, seemingly uncaring of their normal relationship outside this room. It was very obvious to the two padawans that whatever their so-called social standing was in comparison to one another, the three of them were deeply devoted friends. It warmed Aayla's heart to see it, reminding her of her old friends among the clan Saa, and even Harry, who as a boy did not go into cuddling with other boys, thought it rather sweet.

Eventually, however, Padme seemed to nod off into sleep, slumping against Save, her mouth open as she began to snore. The two lovers exchanged a glance with the other two maids, all of them chuckling quietly. Sabe shook her head though. "She's been pushing herself so hard since we retook Naboo. Frankly I really am **this** close to dosing her morning tea with something to put her back under." She held out two fingers a bare centimeter apart. "I've also forbidden anyone from entering her room in the morning and have hidden all of her alarm clocks, but she still gets up so early and goes to bed so late!"

"I think we can do something about that," Harry said, still chuckling. "I'll use a Force technique to block out noise from her room, so no sound from outside can get in. How long do want her to sleep? We'll set an alarm clock and then come and get her afterwards."

"That sounds very helpful, Harry," Sabe said gratefully, having realized quickly that Harry really meant it when he said "please call me Harry" rather than Padawan Potter. Of course, given the names you could make out of that title, she fully understood why he preferred informality. Her own Queen did for her own reasons, of course.

Nodding, Harry moved around the table, putting his arms under Padme and lifting her easily in his arms. "Could someone get her bed covers?"

Aayla giggled, and Harry looked at her quizzically, feeling the flash of amusement through their link as the other handmaids, all of the same age as Padme, giggled too. _Girls,_ Harry thought to himself. _Even with a mental connection to one, I still can't understand them._

Padme was rather cross with them the next day when she woke up, but she couldn't stay that way. For one thing, it really had been the best sleep she'd had since Naboo had been invaded, including the several nights Padme had spent on her yacht during her escape from the planet. For another, she was greeted by Harry, Aayla, and her maids/friends in bed with a steaming bowl of a local gumbo equivalent that was used as a breakfast meal along with fresh rosemary and thyme infused flatbread.

It was precisely the sort of meal Padme had grown up eating, and far too plebian for her as queen to have often, if at all. "I suppose I will give forgive you for your lèse majesté last night for this," she said haughtily, taking the bowl and slurping the food down eagerly.

They all laughed at her, and the day began quickly.

Several hours later, the Jedi were preparing to leave the planet, the trade agreements all finished, signed, and sent out for ratification to the various parties. Since Kashyyyk's king was the only nominal head of state yet to sign, this was more for his sake than anyone else. Not, the Wookies had hurriedly assured everyone, that he wouldn't sign it as soon as possible. The idea of owning a Lucrehulk would be a major boon to the security of the trade routes between Alaris Prime and Kashyyyk.

Padme was sad to see Harry and Aayla go. She couldn't say that they were extremely close friends like her maids, but there was something incredibly uplifting about being around Harry and Aayla, as if being around them made anything possible. Their can-do attitude, their shared exuberance and good nature, plus the obvious love they shared encompassed all those around them.

It was just like Master Fay in a way. Her sheer presence brought a feeling of serenity and peace when she wanted it to. The woman had been a rock of good sense, sound advice, and, when she touched Padme's head that morning, all of her lingering mental fatigue had simply disappeared, as if it had no longer existed. Padme knew about the Force, knew about the Jedi's powers, but that, that was special, and Padme surprised Fay with a hug as the Jedi were leaving. The leaving was thankfully informal, so she could get away with that.

"Thank you for whatever you did, and thank you all for helping both my people and the planet," Padme said, pulling back to look around at the other Jedi. "We will come out of our current troubles stronger than ever, and I have all of you to thank for a large portion of that."

"We are Jedi. Helping people is what we do," Fay said lightly, then looked severely at the girl. "You were about a few days away from a nervous breakdown, Padme Amidala," she said sternly. "That night's rest last night did you a world of good, and I removed most of the fugue from your brain, but do not push yourself into that state again, please. Your planet needs you hale and hearty, not drawn, wan, and near to collapse."

"Thank you, Master Fay. I will take your advice under advisement," Padme said with what remained of her dignity after her own display and that dressing down.

"See that you do," Fay said, then moved over to talk quietly to Obi-Wan once more. That left Aayla, Harry, and Padme alone for a few moments in the shadow of the ship that the Jedi were taking back to Sorenno.

"Thank you, Harry," Padme said, reaching over to take his hand and squeezing it firmly in both of hers. "I could put down the rescue of my people from slavery as a Jedi's duty, but you had no duty to help us reach that trade agreement with Sorenno or the Wookies. As I said to Master Fay, because of those agreements my planet will become stronger in many ways, and far more defended than we ever thought we could be, especially after this recent occupation from the Trade Federation. That went above and beyond, so thank you for your help."

"I didn't do it just for you, you know," Harry said, a teasing smirk on his face as he winked at the younger girl.

Padme flushed and looked away, while Aayla giggled in the background. _He doesn't know what he does to girls, does he? That boyish smirk of his combined with those emerald eyes are a lethal weapon! I know he's with Aayla, but I can't help it!_

For her part Aayla was simply amused by what will she was seeing. Padme was sending off so many signals it wasn't even funny, and while Harry was seeing them, he wasn't reacting because of her. Which, Aayla reflected, was nice, very nice. She wondered how many problems in the universe would be solved if every couple had a mental bond like theirs. _Or would that simply make more problems?_ In any event, Aayla wasn't threatened by Padme's interest, if that was what it was. She found it sweet that Padme seemed to have developed some appreciation for Harry. It wasn't a crush, it wasn't nearly strong enough for that, but it was just a little bit beyond feelings of friendship.

She leaned forward, kissing Padme on the cheek. "Stay in touch, okay?" she said, linking her hand with Harry's.

Padme blushed a little, unused to being kissed like that both in public and from acquaintances.

"Friends should always keep in touch," Harry said with a nod. Then at Aayla's urging acted on his own impulse, kissing Padme on the same cheek Aayla had before turning away.

A few moments later Padme was still standing there as the ship left, one hand gently touching the cheek Aayla and Harry had both kissed, willing away her flush. Eventually a growling voice spoke up from behind her breaking Padme out of her reverie, its words immediately translated to a very robotic common. "Your Majesty, we have chosen the five Warriors we will be leaving here to act as your Royal guard."

She turned, finding herself confronted by six Wookies. One of them was one of the leaders from last night, a grizzled old male with his hair marked by silver and hundreds of beads worked into it here and there. The others were young, most of them with brown fur, though a short one, who was standing next to a larger male, was noticeably female, which none of the leaders last night had been. Her fur was slightly darker, with a hint of red to it. The man she stood next to also wore a harness across his chest, with markings on it that seemed significant for some reason.

"I would like you to introduce you to their Captain and second-in-command, Chewbacca, and his second-in-command and wife, Mallatobuck." The old chieftain said.

 **OOOOOOO**

Looking over the formal missive from the child queen, Sidious couldn't keep a scowl from his face, though luckily he was alone at present. It was a message, as he had been busy dealing with the Senate at the time she had contacted the office, but it detailed the agreements she'd reached with all the parties involved, as well as a brief blurb about how her people had been returned. _Dammit, those ships could've been useful! Now I'll have to see what other ships we can pull out to transport the industrial nodes necessary to start the large scale military buildup._

 _On the other hand,_ Sidious thought after a moment, _she actually gives me and my administration credit for helping the Jedi Order in this, so yet again my own position is actually stronger due to my earlier involvement._ _Yes,_ Sidious decided after moment, _that is the important thing._ This trade agreement would further cast reflected glory upon his position as Chancellor. It would make him and his words in the Senate more powerful, his position more certain. So in the end, what did those ships matter, really?

 **End chapter**

* * *

I had planned to keep going here, since so little actual time has passed in this chapter and I have several more scenes outlined, but I just didn't have time to actually turn them into more than that this month. Honestly trying to write both a SW crossover chapter and an ATP chapter in the same month is a killer. I am also uncertain if I truly showed rather than told in terms of how different Sidious and Plagueis act. I feel Plagueis' actions were too often explained rather than described, but I'll be interested to see what everyone thinks.


	7. Chapter 7

SW and HP ain't mine.

Author's Note:

Many of you have noticed that at times I have used my powers as the author to give votes to one story or another. I have decided on a set policy for how I will use my own Authorial Votes™ from now on. I will use them in two ways, one to reinforce a particular muse when choosing between the two SW crossovers or ATP, and to help get a story which hasn't been updated in a while updated. I will give myself 200 votes to use in the pursuit of these goals.

Now on to the votes:

In one of the closest yet also most varied polls I've seen, the votes came out thusly: _Magic of the Force_ took 380 votes here on fanfic, coming in first. _Horse_ however came in last with only 171 votes. Yet on Patty R on _Horse_ brought in 720, and _Magic_ only 440. See why I said it was varied?

My own votes went to _Magic of the Force_ however, with 100. My reasoning for this is that I had written several scenes for the last chapter of Magic that weren't quite ready for the last chapter. I also am not really happy with a few of the outlines scenes in Horse. I feel I am simply repeating myself too much in terms of how Palpy is responding to the changes Ranma has caused.

So the total for this poll was 920 votes for _Magic of the Force_ , and 891 votes for _Horse of the Force_. While this may upset some readers, I will say now that _Horse_ will be updated next month: I need to research some of Anakin's canon missions during his time as a padawan, and wonder how to change them or which he and Windu would be sent on, as well as how I want to play the going to Ruusan angle. I suppose I could just skip right to the clone wars, but not only is that not my style, but I think many of my readers would attempt to fricassee me slowly over an open fire.

This story has been edited by Michael and Kathryn518. Thank them for this, as they did help me clear up a lot of small mistakes, and a lot of plot/flow questions I had.

Also a side note… When _**IT**_ begins, you might want to listen to ' Believer' by _Imagine Dragons._

Now let us begin.

* * *

 **Chapter 7: I, Dooku**

Harry, Aayla, their Masters, and Master Dooku stood in front of the small landing pad that had been built for the Serenno lightsaber training center. It had taken several months to build and prepare since they had all returned to Serenno, but it was now complete, and they were here now waiting for the first group of students to arrive.

The complex was rather sprawling, built around, and in many ways, into Master Dooku's mansion. One of the mansion's wings had been redone, now ready for the various Jedi who would be staying. The outer wall separating the mansion's gardens from the outside world had been knocked down in one segment, then enlarged to encompass several different training zones. Each zone was separated by a walking path several hundred feet long in order to let each training group have privacy from their fellows.

Near the leftmost edge of the training grounds was a large outside classroom that had **very** thick reinforced ferrocrete walls, but no ceiling. This would be the room Fay and Lily used to teach runic arrays to specially selected students. From the landing area, though, that oddity was barely visible around the corner of the mansion since the training center encompassed a sort of half-moon shape around the mansion's environs.

The small transport vessel touched down, and the ramp lowered smoothly, revealing Master Micah Giiett and his padawan, Alecto, leading the way down the ramp with several other Masters that Harry and Aayla had not met before.

The students were a very mixed bag, which Harry had anticipated considering the dual nature of the training being given here. Besides Master Giiett there were five other Masters and ten Knights who had been requested by the Jedi Order to undergo an evaluation of their lightsaber skills.

Dooku knew that this was just the tip of the iceberg. Niiman had become far too inculcated into the Consular mindset, but now that there had been a study on whether or not lightsaber styles correlated with deaths in the field, perhaps that style would be abandoned almost entirely.

Besides these more senior members of the Order were four unassigned padawans, padawans who for one reason or another had yet to find a Master or Knight to take them on. This wasn't quite unusual, though it wasn't normal enough that this stage of training had been given a special name. Following them was a clan of younglings with their minder. The idea behind their inclusion was to further spread the special techniques of Clan Saa among the younglings and padawans. Indeed, if this worked, then the training clans, of which there were normally five or six at any given time, could be rotated through the Serenno Training Center to learn these techniques before returning for further training at the Temple.

At the sight of one of the knights and two of the unassigned padawans Harry and Aayla had to fight back grins. While Harry was very happy to see his friend Alecto and the others, Mak Lotor and Kass Tod, Aayla was almost ecstatic to see Knight Shaak Ti, who she had not seen for several months before her ill-fated mission with her Master. Indeed, Aayla almost vibrated in place with the desire to rush forward and greet her older friend, almost an older sister figure, who stood between the unassigned padawans and the other knights.

While the younglings, padawans, and even a few knights paused at the sight of Lily hovering over the welcoming party's shoulders, Shaak simply smiled, locking eyes with the greeters in turn, past the Masters at the front of the group.

In many ways Shaak Ti was a most singular individual. As a Togrutan she should have been social and outgoing, but Shaak Ti liked solitude, setting aside an hour every day for individual mediation while also being available and even going out of her way to help others when in the temple. She was humble and a devoted Consular, yet one of the better lightsaber duelists in the Order. She was also a decent teacher, yet had refused to take a padawan yet even from Clan Saa. She could be caring, yet also aloof in many ways.

As the Togrutan gently began to chivvy the paused group forward, images flashed through Harry's mind as he looked at Shaak, and not all of them were his own. Indeed, the two most prominent ones came from Aayla as she remembered two moments when Shaak had helped her after Clan Saa had arrived at the temple.

 **Flashback:**

Aayla looked into a mirror as Shaak slowly wiped her mouth with a cloth. "In lipstick, much like in most beauty products less is more. You of all individuals need not worry about primping yourself up to feel pretty my dear, even if it was not against the Jedi Code to do so."

"If it's against the rules, then why are we allowed cosmetics at all?" Aayla asked, leaning away slightly from the older woman's touch, though Shaak's hand followed her easily.

"I have often thought of that, and I think it is perhaps one of very few nods towards the fact that even though we are Jedi, we are also women. I do not know if there is an equivalent right for the menfolk; perhaps there is not. The Jedi Order tends to think in terms of gender neutrality with a slight bias towards the masculine side for some reason. Which is truly bizarre when you think about it, considering that as far as we know the modern interpretation of the Jedi Order was founded by a woman."

"Nomi Sunrider, right?" Aayla said, her mouth still obscured by the cloth Shaak was using to wipe her mouth. "I looked her up a few years back when Mother Lily wanted to know about them and if she really looked like she was from the Sunrider clan."

"Yes, Lily does look like one of the Sunrider clan, though as far as I am aware there is no longer any Sunrider among the Jedi Order. Considering the Ruusan Reformation and what it did to the Jedi clans, that is all too obvious." Shaak's expressive mouth twitched at that, and she turned slightly to bring up a small mirror, holding it up to Aayla's face. "There. I don't think that color is you, but you can see how I put it on, anyway…"

The lime green might have stood out, but Aayla had to admit that it really did not look good on her at all. Indeed, it made Aayla look funny, and she broke out into a peal of giggles at her image, which also nearly set Harry off in the present day.

 **End Flashback**

The next memory however was much more serious, and wiped the desire to smile off Harry's face.

 **Flashback:**

Aayla stood in one of the Temple's numerous training centers, hurling her body around wildly. No lightsaber was in her hands, but she was moving through a few of the starting movements that all padawans learned in order to build muscle memory and general fitness. But right now Aayla was using it to blow off some steam, her attempts to try to get to grip with the number of emotions going through her via centering herself in the Force having failed miserably.

She had been here in the Temple for half a year now, and even if you set aside the feeling of being away from Harry, which was always at the back of her mind, it had been one of the worst times in her life. And Aayla had been a slave before she met Harry, not a mistreated one, admittedly, but still a slave, so that said something.

Aayla was unused to the stares, the looks of concern, censure, and condemnation that she saw from all too many Masters here. Masters, knights, even some padawans and younglings seemed to look at her and the rest of the clan askance. But Aayla, as the best of them when it came to teaching their abilities to others, seemed to gather a lot more of these looks than the rest of the clan. _Is it my fault that I'm trying to teach them things? Is it my fault that I'm showing them up so often by doing things they can't? How dare they say I'm arrogant! How dare they say that my abilities border on the dark! I thought we were Jedi! I thought we were supposed to be above petty rumor-mongering and such like!_

She remembered the words of Master Yoda telling them all that change came slowly to the Jedi Order, that there would be some who distrusted the clan for their differences, and that there would be others who looked askance at their abilities. Aayla had heard these words, but she really hadn't understood the import of them before this. Nor had she anticipated how the constant judgmental glances would slowly erode her self-control.

Her furious movements were interrupted by a calm voice asking, "Is that actually helping, youngling? Or are your thoughts simply going around in circles?"

Aayla stopped her movements, turning in the direction of the voice to see Master Ti standing there. She was dressed as if she too had been intent on getting some training,no lightsaber or robe in view. Instead she wore the sports bra and short skirt all female Jedi wore for training and sometimes even actual combat, despite the sight it made of them, or, Aayla sometimes thought, perhaps because of it. After all, enemies who were too busy trying to stare at your body were ignoring your lightsaber.

At that sight Aayla once more had to fight back a bit of un-Jedi-like jealousy at the way the older woman looked. Shaak was **so** pretty! Her red skin, even with the white flashes of old wounds here and there, stood out **so** amazingly, and she had a great chest too. Aayla wasn't certain why being bigger was better there, but she knew it was. _I'll get there eventually,_ she thought once again. _Just a little longer._ _Then I'll probably look just as good._

After a moment, Aayla sighed and shook her head. "No, it isn't really. Is it that obvious?"

"My dear, you are one of the most social individuals I have ever met among the Jedi, and yet you are here alone? Clue number one. Clue number two, your movements are angry, disjointed, far too emotional." There was no censure in Shaak's tone when she said that. She was simply making observations, the calmness of the other woman almost reaching out to touch Aayla and calm her down in turn. "It doesn't help, exercising like this when you are so out of sorts."

"You're not going to give me a lecture about being too emotional? For overreacting to all the, the stares and the sly looks and the…"

"Youngling Secura, if I was going to do that I wouldn't be here. That is not my way," Shaak said, interrupting the other girl. "Instead, I'm here to help."

She moved forward, holding out her hand, the Force pulling a towel from one of the walls to land in her hand neatly before she reached Aayla. "Now, wipe yourself off and come with me."

Feeling somewhat drained physically but still very out of sorts mentally, Aayla complied, wiping her face and lekku, then her arms and chest, patting it once disconsolately before resolutely throwing that thought away again. _I'll get there eventually._

"You'll get there eventually," Shaak said, having caught that little movement. Aayla looked a little embarrassed, further adding to her emotional turmoil, but Shaak merely chuckled. "Youngling… Aayla. I was far flatter than you for quite a while longer than I anticipate you will be. Do not let it bother you. It's simply one of the many changes your body is going through that you will have to deal with. Despite all the other tiny falsehoods you are being told at this moment that at least is truth."

Aayla stiffened at that, but Shaak took her arm before she could speak. "We'll talk further about that and about what you have been learning from the Jedi Masters assigned to teach you about such things later. For now, you need to find your sense of balance once more."

The younger Twi'lek didn't argue or try to fight back as Shaak led her by the hand through the Jedi Temple and up several flights of stairs. They eventually stopped outside a door, and Shaak paused, her eyes closing for a brief moment. Aayla could tell that she was sending her thoughts out into the Force, but couldn't figure out why until Shaak smiled, opening her eyes once more. "Good, it's empty right now. Come in."

The meditation room on the other side of the doorway was not one that Aayla had seen yet in her time in the Temple so far. It was not the bare utilitarian room that the younglings were shown and ordered to meditate in. Instead, it was a jungle, almost. From one end to the other, the room seemed filled with trees—small, two-story trees for the most part, with large branches shooting out in every direction, up and down and all around. Several yards into the room was a small stream wending its way through the roots of the trees, several of which seems to be growing directly out of the river.

Aayla, of course, knew that underneath all this would be stone and steel flooring, but right now it was very hard to remember that she was in a temple rather than on some jungle world. And listening to the sound of birds in the distance, she could not hold back a gasp of delight.

"This room dominates half this floor of the temple," Shaak said once more, guiding Aayla in by hand. "I personally have not been to the planet where these trees grow, but they are quite fascinating at first glance, are they not?" Aayla nodded, and Shaak continued to lead her through the room until they came upon a small area of grass between a few trees.

It was obviously artificial, kept clear of the trees by human or other sentient hands instead of by wild design. Yet even so, it blended into the rest so easily you had to really think about it to realize that.

There Aayla felt Shaak let go of her hand, moving forward before turning to the younger girl as she slid down onto her knees in a meditation pose. "Sit."

As she did, Aayla asked, looking a little uncomfortable, "Master Ti, was I broadcasting what I was thinking so hard that you felt it?"

"Master Yoda did, and he requested that I help you. I would have in any event," Shaak replied, shaking her head with a faint smile. "I had actually been on the lookout for this kind of a reaction from you and the rest of your clan-mates. However, I had recently been assigned another mission of my own. It will take me away for at least a few weeks, and I had been researching it so I missed whatever was...is the phrase, straw that broke the animal's?"

"I wasn't trying to blame you, Master Ti," Aayla said, feeling guilty for some reason. "I was just asking if I was projecting so much that I was bothering other people."

"A good attitude to have, and given your empathic ability it is a concern at times. Yet you have never done so in the past, and I doubt you will in the future so long as you quickly control yourself once more. Which brings us to the reason why we are here."

Shaak held out her hands, palms upward. After a seconds hesitation, Aayla reached forward with both of her own, laying them on top of the older woman's. "Close your eyes, and we will begin…"

 **End Flashback**

There that memory ended, and Harry came back to the here and now as the first few Masters, including Master Giiett reached them. Master Giiett as one of the Masters on the council, took the lead, bowing his head to first Fay, then Dooku, before flashing a quick wink up at Lily. "Master Dooku, Master Fay, these are Masters R'sonan, Varsu, Marfel, Crux, and Porto."

The named Masters bowed their heads slightly as they were introduced. R'sonan and Varsu were human, both younger than Dooku by a decade or more, though they moved with more gravitas and formality than he did. Marfel was a Sullustan, her short frame standing out among the others. Crux was a Gand, and Porto, a Bothan. All of them had looked at the Force ghost hovering behind the living members of the welcoming party before concentrating on Master Fay and Dooku. It was clear by their stances that they were more resigned than happy to be here, even with the mystery of the Force Ghost to solve.

"Master Giiett," Dooku replied, bowing his head in a way that indicated very precisely that he felt he was equal to the High Council representative. "I had not thought a council rep would be among my first students here, but you are welcome nonetheless."

"Oh, I'm not so much a student in terms of lightsaber dueling, but in terms of other, more esoteric skills," Giiett chuckled before lowering his voice and moving towards Dooku slightly. "And I am also here as a messenger. I would like to speak to you later, if I may? And, young padawans, I believe you know my own padawan, Alecto?"

Dooku nodded, while Harry and Aayla smiled happily at their friend before turning to the others as the Knights moved forward in turn to introduce themselves. When it came time for Shaak to do so, Harry felt Aayla nearly vibrating beside him.

The Togrutan knight evidently could also sense Aayla's happiness, and she smiled at the younger girl before her mouth moved silently, or rather silently to all but Aayla and Harry. She had actually used a slightly modified version of the Silencing Technique that Harry had developed, something she must have come up with on her own. "Time enough for that later, I think," she murmured. "We have other introductions to do now, padawan."

When it came time for the unassigned padawans to introduce themselves, Harry had to fight back the urge to roll his eyes at how formal this all was, clasping forearms with Kass and Mak. "We'll catch up later," Harry muttered to them out of the corner of his mouth, causing them and the nearby Alecto to nod.

With the introductions over with, Dooku gestured for the large group of Jedi to follow him. He moved through the training area and pointed out some of the separate sections. The odd, roofless classroom attracted some bemused looks, but Shaak's eyes, along with Giiett's, looked up to Lily and then to Fay speculatively. The other masters didn't seem to have made the connection there yet.

Another area had several dozen large mannequins situated at one end. Each of them had a comical expression of anger or shock on them. The younglings, to a child, laughed as they looked at them. Even a few of the other Jedi looked like they were amused by the oddity of the sight.

Master Dooku smiled thinly, then looked over at Fay with one eyebrow raised. She nodded slightly, and before Harry knew what was happening, she gently pushed Harry forward to join Dooku in front of the group. "This training area, as you have already noticed, is a little different from the others. It is not intended to train you in Lightsaber techniques, but in some of the new Force techniques. Many of you might have already heard of them or even know how to use a few. If you have not, one of the original users of the techniques, Padawan Potter, will show you how to. Padawan?"

Gulping, Harry looked around at the younglings, his friends, the knights, and the masters. _"You can do it, Harry. Don't worry,"_ Aayla's voice soothed in his head. _"You've seen my memories of how I taught the Shield and Stunner techniques, and we've prepared this room for it. Don't let your nerves get in the way of what we both know you can do!"_

Sending back a wave of thanks and love through their link, Harry took a deep breath, then began. "The dummies you all see in the corner are set up as targets. But instead of using them as targets for a blaster or something, we are going to use them as targets for what we call the Stunning technique. It is one of the three main skills Clan Saa have been sharing. You might have seen it in use, but if you haven't ,please watch me."

With that Harry turned around and moved away from the watching Jedi. Turning, he pointed down range with one finger. A second later a flash of red light in the shape of a sphere lanced out from his finger, slamming into three of the targets. Despite being somewhat heavier than most sentients they were blown backwards onto their backs.

As they landed, small sensors on their backs went off, emitting robotic grunts and groans in a high-pitched tone of voice. It sounded as if one of the Trade Federation's infantry droids had been given pain receptors. That brought a round of shocked giggles from many of the younglings and the younger set. The older masters and knights, though, shook their heads, not liking the amount of humor Harry was attempting to add to what have should have been a serious lesson. Looking at them, Aayla wondered how many of them also didn't like being reminded of Force techniques that they had so far been unable to perform.

"The trick to this technique is visualization and projection. You must visualize the technique in two parts—first, the sight of the technique moving, then the impact of the technique on the target—before you put both images together into one. The color of the technique is red. Don't ask me why; that is a mystery of the Force that no one seems to have figured out the reason for," Harry went on smoothly, moving back towards the group, using the same words Aayla had during her own time as a teacher.

From there, however, he went on to use his own words, smiling at the listeners. He began by talking about how he had first learned the technique and how long it had taken him to get it right to his mother's exacting standard. The fact that the Force ghost hovering over the group was his mother raised a lot of eyebrows, but Lily smiled happily down at them all, moving among the younglings and through some of them, laughing at them all.

Harry continued, easily capturing their attention as he spoke about how the technique should look in the air, and the feel of expressing the Force out from your body. "Most of the Force techniques you will learn are about reaching out and connecting to the Force to create the effect you wish, to move objects from one point to another like that…" Without even a gesture, the three targets he had knocked down righted themselves. "This technique and others like it, however, are more about you projecting your own Force energy out to create the effect rather than just connecting your mind to the greater Force. It's a subtle difference, but it is there."

Sitting down, Harry gestured down to his body with both hands, slowly raising them then throwing out an arm again. "The feeling should come out from your hand like so. Projection, as I said. It should feel like a warm wind almost, passing through and out of your body. After the first few times the feeling will fade to the background as you use the technique. And you will learn how to control the power you put into the technique too as you get better at it. "

"Now, if I could have you break up into groups of twelve? The first group will join me out here, while the others meditate on the Force, feeling out the connection. I will lead the first group, while Padawan Secura and Master Fay will help the others on their meditation."

For the next two hours Harry calmly walked the groups, which included younglings, Knights, and Masters, through the technique. He helped each person in turn, helping the older set with imagining the outcome of the technique, which seemed to be the hardest point for most of them. The younger set, of course, had issues with projection, using their will to impact the world around them in a controlled manner. But with Harry, Lily, and the others, by the end of the day everyone there was able to create at least a small stunner. The last youngling who managed it actually drew a cheer from the rest of his clan, and Aayla gleefully messed up the little boy's hair as she held up his hand like he had just won a race. That this brought some more frowns from the other Masters and Knights was something she and the others ignored.

After that, the group got the now excited younglings situated in their new quarters, then spent several hours meditating as a group before drifting to bed. Dooku and Giiett excused themselves quickly, while Shaak and Aayla joined Fay in her quarters along with Lily. Aayla was eager to touch base with her older friend, while Shaak was just as interested in speaking to Aayla and getting the truth out of her and Fay about the rumors that had begun to get around the Order as to what had happened to Aayla. Since Master Fay had a high opinion of the younger woman (which, as Lily pointed out, was not saying much, as every woman was younger than Master Fay), she too was eager to speak to Shaak.

The other Knights all gathered around Quinlan in his room to talk shop. Several of them had been assigned to the mass of follow-up missions that had been started by the operation against the slavers which Quinlan and Dooku had led. That operation was massive and ongoing, but had already yielded a lot of results in terms of criminal organizations being shut down and corrupt officials found and removed.

At the same time, Harry and his three former clan-mates met up in Harry's room. "I have to admit to being surprised that all three of you are here. We had been told that Alecto would be coming here with Master Giiett, but not that you two would be. No offense, I'm just surprised."

"We volunteered," said Mak, smiling slightly, reaching forward once more to clasp his friend's forearm. "That was an excellent class judging by the fact that most of the younglings were shooting out little stunners at one another when they left. The masters didn't seem to approve, though."

"I believe in hands-on learning," Harry said with a shrug, not addressing the real thrust of those words. "And it has to be admitted that a lot of our techniques don't need as much centering in the Force or emotional control to work. I'm afraid at least two of those youngling won't be able to form Force Shields, though. I don't think they're strong enough."

His three listeners winced at that. They all knew what happened to Jedi who were not deemed strong enough to actually use the Force in any appreciable manner: they were sent to the farming communities. Even many who were strong enough were often sent there if they couldn't find a Master willing to take them on, or one that they were able to form a connection with. Alecto felt rather privileged that he had had a second chance as he did.

Still, he spoke up, concerned for his friend. "I agree with you, but I think you should be aware of the Masters' reactions. Positive reinforcement is good, but those hugs and pats on the head might be seen as a little over the top. Remember, the Order in the main doesn't approve of emotional connections, and those gestures seem to attract that kind of connection. You're going to be looked at a lot more closely than most padawans are simply because of your techniques, Harry. You need to be aware of how people see you."

Kass spoke up Before Harry could respond, leaning back against the side of Harry's bed after looking around while Alecto was speaking. Harry's room was a lot more starkly utilitarian than she would have assumed, given how long he had apparently been living here, but then again, that seemed to be part and parcel of Harry's personality. If he wanted a comfy set of chairs, Harry would simply conjure them. Harry had very few material possessions that he really cared about. Harry cared about people, a fact she knew all too well.

"The rest of the clan has been dealing with that kind of thing for a while, Harry. Mak and I were almost discouraged from coming here. They didn't want more of the clan to be here for some reason, though that might just be a holdover from the overall reaction to the clan rather than anything else."

"I understand what you're saying, but I am not going to stop myself from feeling or acting as I have been. I understand their concerns. I understand why the Order has turned its back on feeling even the Light Side emotions. I do not agree with them," Harry said calmly. "Searching for a balance is a good thing, but that doesn't mean you should turn your back on the Light Side either. Even Master Yoda said that, remember? Feeling the emotions is not the problem, it is controlling them and not letting the bad emotions fester. That is sort of the great secret, he said once. It unfortunately doesn't seem to have become known to enough of the Order."

The four fell silent at that, then Alecto smirked and pushed Harry's shoulder playfully, just like he had when they were both younglings in Clan Saa. "Look at you, thinking deep thoughts. Still, that's enough of that kind of thing for now."

"Yes it is," Harry replied before looking over at Mak and Kass. "When we were on Coruscant, Zule said you both had been assigned Masters, so why are you unassigned?"

"Master Clifton was badly injured on his most recent mission, and unfortunately he is allergic to bacta, so he has to heal slowly," Mak said, wincing in sympathy with the man who had agreed to take him on as a padawan. They weren't close yet by any means, but they did respect one another, and for padawans from Clan Saa that was enough given how many of the Jedi Order didn't like how Clan Saa acted at times.

"Master Cleona is on a mission to Brentaal," Kass explained. "That's a major trade planet that sits on the junction of two hyperspace trade routes. They don't like Jedi, so she decided she wouldn't take me on until she was finished there. It's a long-term mission, so that could be months in the future."

"Good," Harry said with a laugh. "That'll give you time to learn some of the runic stuff that my mother and Master Fay want to teach."

Kass's eyes lit up with interest. "Really! They're prepared to teach runes to other people? I thought that might be the story behind that weird classroom, but…"

"They'll teach only people who they think they can trust, but given Master Fay's abilities in that area, I'm sure not going to question them," Harry said with a laugh. Master Fay's ability to analyze people and to discern if someone was trustworthy or not was the highest in the Order, an ability which, with her seeming immortality, helped explain why she was a legend in the Order.

"You have any news about the rest of the clan? I caught up with Zule and Wulo when we were on Coruscant. I know they're both doing well, but what about the others?"

Mak was a bit of a gossip surprisingly, and knew more than the others did about how the rest of their clan was doing. Most of them had already been assigned Masters, moving on from the sort of limbo state that existed between the youngling stage and the padawan stage, which, Kass opined, the Order really should come up with a term for.

Harry and Alecto were both astonished to learn, however, that two of their clan members had been sent to the farming conclaves. "George actually requested it?" Alecto asked, astonished.

"You know George," Kass said with a sigh, remembering their old clan mate. One of the oldest boys in the clan, George was a human with a mechanical bent that put Harry in mind of Anakin, now that he thought of it. But whereas Anakin was powerful in the Force, George was easily the weakest in the clan.

"He realized a while back that he wasn't going to really go anywhere as a Jedi, but Kallier has a way with plants, and George has one with machinery. I think the two of them can do a lot of good of the farming community. It still hurts that they were shunted aside like that, but at least they actually wanted it for themselves," Mak said, sighing faintly.

"Is the clan as a whole still, well, looked at askance? You mentioned it earlier, but as a group I would have assumed by this point we would be getting more accepted," Harry asked, looking at all three of them.

"Not as a group," Alecto said, shaking his head. "We're not together often enough for that. I do know that Zule, at least, was censured when she tried to stay in touch with you and Aayla recently. Since the last time she saw you, I mean. The Council of First Knowledge and Reassignment in particular didn't like seeing that. It 'breeds attachment which can cloud your emotional control and your connection to the Force,' or so they say," the green-skinned Duros youth said, shaking his head.

Kass and Mak glanced at one another, and Harry raised a hand to cover a sudden smile. The two of them had a visible connection to one another according to Aayla, who had passed it on to him earlier. He personally hadn't seen it, but now, seeing them glance at one another like that, Harry couldn't not recognize it.

"A lot of the Order doesn't like the fact that many of us have already stated that we'll be taking the Old Oath when we become Jedi Knights, but it's nothing we can't deal with. We have won a lot of renown for our techniques that you passed on through us, Harry, and the fact that they are no longer seen as strange and unusual has a rollover effect with how we are seen by the rest of the Order," Mak said.

"Good," Harry said with a nod. "That is what Master Yoda wanted, I think, though I know for a fact he's not happy it's taken so long to get to that point."

"'Change, unwanted it is at times,'" Alecto said in a perfect imitation of the short, yet immensely respected, even loved, Grand Master, a fond smile on his face. "'Life, always changing it is. Balance the Force, necessary a certain distance is to understand that change is good.'"

The others laughed at him, and he smirked back. "Master Yoda's amazing. Without his help, without his support, I don't think that our abilities would have been as welcomed within the Order as they are even now."

Kass sighed, glancing again over at Mak before looking back at Harry. "I'd give it another few years, and then the only thing that will still get anyone's backs up will be the fact we form attachments. That one, that's not going away anytime soon given the number of Jedi who have fallen to the Dark Side because of that in the past. You're going to have to look out for that, Harry, when the masters and knights here become aware of the bond between you and Aayla."

Wincing slightly at that, Harry nodded and looked at the other three. "Anything else going on with the Order I should know? And what are your lightsaber styles?"

"Actually, before that, is that your own lightsaber you're using?" Kass asked briskly, moving past her moment of weakness quickly. "It doesn't feel like it has a connection to you."

"It doesn't. It was a gift from Master Vos," Harry said, pulling out his lightsaber. "It was one of many that the bounty hunter Aurra Sing apparently carried around as trophies from previous kills. He found them and several more besides in a container case among Jabba's treasure room."

Harry activated the lightsaber for a second, the snap hiss of the blade and the green of the plasma echoing around the room. He looked at it for a moment before clicking it back off, laying it on the ground in front of him. "I imagine that the Jedi who originally owned this would be happy to have it be used again, but I will be building my own eventually. Master Fay, however, is waiting until I have Master Dooku's approval to let me build my own."

At the quizzical looks from his friends, Harry elaborated. "Master Fay thinks that the search for a lightsaber crystal is a part of the process that has long been neglected by simply sending groups of Jedi younglings to the planets that have crystals rather than letting them search for their crystals via the Force. She and Master Dooku have some plan there, but I have to pass a test in the future to prove that I'm ready for it."

Mak blinked, looking down at his own lightsaber which, when ignited, emitted a blue light just like Kass's, then he shrugged. "I guess that idea never occurred to me. Then again, I'm a Consular, not a Guardian; my connection to my lightsaber isn't that important to me. But when we actually start training, are you going to show us how you've been incorporating your abilities in with your lightsaber style?"

Harry nodded, then laughed ruefully. "Master Dooku has been on me for that since almost the get go. 'Do not build false practices; do not fall into the trap of only using a few such techniques; always think about how you would incorporate all of them. If you do not, your Force Precognition can backfire on you and be overcome.'" Harry said, in a rather horrible imitation of Dooku's tone, trying to follow in Alecto's footsteps for a moment.

The others all hissed at him, and Harry pouted before turning to Alecto. "Can you tell us about the mission where you lost your first Master? Only if you're comfortable talking about it, of course."

Alecto nodded agreement and began to tell them about that mission, and in particular how the techniques Lily and Harry had shared helped save his life. From there they went into various lightsaber styles and what Harry had been learning, while elsewhere, other, more serious conversations were going on.

 **OOOOOOO**

Understanding from the other Masters tone that whatever it was Giiett wanted to talk about should not be overheard, Master Dooku led Giiett to his study, a mixed meditation and old-style office, with several actual paper books lining one wall. Sitting down at the desk, Dooku hit a few buttons before moving over to sit in a chair across from Master Giiett. "I just activated a Faraday cage. No signal can come in or out of this room until it is turned off. Now, what was this about?"

Giiett chuckled quietly, shaking his head. "That is a bit of interesting technology that we might want to incorporate into the Jedi Council's room if we can do so without anyone noticing. Perhaps the entire temple, if we can get away with it."

"Why the secrecy? Why is such counterintelligence needed?" Dooku said, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the other human Master.

"You were told, of course, about how your former padawan died," Giiett said slowly. "What you were not told over the Hypercom was that the individual who killed him was not some bounty hunter or anything similar." From there Giiett explained what had occurred on Naboo, going into detail on how the Dark Side user had fought and his appearance from Windu's memory of the battle.

"We fear the Zabrak was someone deliberately trained in the Dark Side, not someone who fell into it. Mace thinks, and many of us agree, that he was not a master of the Dark Side. Rather, he was a blunt object trained to counter Jedi, but in no way fully trained."

From there Giiett described the ongoing debate of where the Dark Side user had come from, as well as Master Yoda's belief that he might be a Dark Brother, judging by the markings on his face.

"And you are keeping this close to your chest because you are uncertain of how many of these Dark Siders are out there?"

"We are uncertain of the nature of this threat entirely," Giiett said sighing. "The Jedi Shadows have found very little as yet, and it has been nearly a year now. It is as if this Dark Side user simply appeared fully formed out of the Force."

For a moment Dooku was silent, nothing in his face giving his thoughts away, which had just turned very chaotic indeed. He had never considered the idea that Qui-Gon had been killed by another Force user, let alone a Dark Sider. But somehow it fit. Something about it fit into what he had sensed when Mace told him about Qui-Gon's death. And it filled him with something he had never felt since he was a youngling: self-recrimination and doubt.

 _T_ _he Sith, it has to be a Sith. Master Yoda is wrong. It is not the Dark Brotherhood sect; it is a Sith!_ Dooku could all too easily remember the years leading up to Komari's rescue where he had been looking into the Sith, trying to find any hint of their being around.

He had not been looking because he felt they were around. No, he had been looking because in his misguided opinion the Jedi Order needed the Sith around in order to keep evolving. Harry and Lily's arrival and their new ideas and techniques, however, had thrown that concept out the window.

That didn't change the fact that he had been interested in them in the first place, however, nor the fact that at times Dooku had felt that something, or rather someone, might have been helping his interest along. _I, I would have fallen to the Dark Side if not for the new techniques moving through the Order and the need to help Komari. So, that implies that the Sith might be someone I have met at one point or another,_ Dooku thought coldly. _Whoever it is, I will find them, and I will hunt them down personally! I am no one's tool!_

He shared none of these thoughts, however, merely nodding. "I will join you in this search, though I will do so not through my own physical means but through contacts, since I am needed here. I have many contacts: barely legal slicers, business and governmental officials I have met in my travels. I can subtly look for clues about this."

"Be very careful, Dooku," Giiett said. "The Council does not wish to tip our hand in this manner."

"I will be discreet," Dooku said with a thin smile. "Have no fear on that score. Believe me, I will not tip our hand in this." _Not until I am certain and ready to strike…_

 **OOOOOOO**

Sidious bowed his head slightly, the hood he was wearing further covering his face so that his Master could not see his eyes. Even as good at dissembling as he was, Plagueis could at times read more emotions and thoughts from Sidious than he wanted if the Muun locked eyes with him. "You have been away overlong Master. Are you certain that you can afford to remain on your ship as you are?"

"My story about having been infected with a contagious disease at present will hold among those who know that I have disappeared at all," said the other Sith, his tone somewhat condescending. "Remember, apprentice, I am not truly a public figure any longer thanks to that assassination attempt a few years ago. It is your part to play the foil, to make the visible moves needed to complete the Great Plan. I will stick to the shadows."

"Of course Master," said Sidious, looking up, having regained control of himself. He had hoped to do away with the older male, but apparently that wasn't going to happen just yet. "Can I ask what you have been up to? I know you went to Wayland and have stayed there some months."

"I did indeed, and I performed several different experiments I have long been thinking of that will aid us in the long term immensely. For instance, I have discovered why the clones go mad if you speed up the growth process too much. It isn't something I'm going to use very often, but I did start the process of cloning that assassin of yours. With his foolishness on Naboo we might require more of a Force-using element than we had anticipated."

Carefully keeping his eyes from widening, Sidious leaned back, tapping his fingers gently on the armrests of his chair. It was not his normal throne; that would not do when talking to his Master, speaking of too much hubris and perhaps showing him what Sidious thought of his place in the Sith. Instead it was a regular chair in their hidden sanctuary. "I have noticed some clandestine moves on the Jedi Order's part, so that could be a very good move," he admitted. "They do seem to think that there could be more Dark Side users somewhere. Mace Windu's meeting and killing my assassin was a reversal of fortune for us for certain."

"Do you believe that the deceptions we put in place if Maul was discovered will hold?"

"I believe it will for a time," Sidious said after a moment's contemplation. "I have not heard any hints about them looking for the Sith in particular, though there is talk about something of that nature. I believe, however, that is simply wanting to prepare for the worst case scenario."

"That means they will pursue Maul's background all the harder. In that case, my little experiment might prove very necessary indeed. Or at least one of them."

Sidious made an interrogative noise, and Plagueis smiled in his race's manner. "I was experimenting with mixing DNA structures. I thought it would be interesting to see what I could add to that pure clone Jango Fett required as his payment. We shall see if that bears any fruit. I left IG-42 there to look after things."

Sidious nodded, again very carefully keeping any emotion off his face. IG-42 was a medical droid with all of its emotional and moral subroutines removed. It had long been Plagueis aide-de-camp in any experiment which had a medical side to it. That was an area of Sith alchemy that Sidious had never truly had any interest in, not really seeing a point to it outside of the ability to transfer his consciousness into a clone. That, he was very interested in. After all, who wouldn't be interested in the idea of eternal life?

Plagueis eyes suddenly narrowed dangerously. "Speaking of experiments, what of the vergence? What has the Order done with him?"

Sidious allowed a wince to appear on his face, though inside he was calm, watchful. "He has been assigned to Windu as his padawan."

He watched his Master's face close down in a way that would have sent a shiver down most people's back. "Tell me more," Plagueis ordered.

"According to our robotic spies inside the Temple, the boy was taken by Windu as padawan as a sort of parting gift to Jinn. Jinn would've taken on the boy as an apprentice if he had lived, and reading between the lines and using what we know of Windu he might almost have felt guilty about not preventing Jinn's death and sees this as a way to atone."

Plagueis fell silent, and Sidious did likewise. This was, in point of fact, not the end of the world from Sidious's perspective, but it was a somewhat large setback to the idea of twisting the vergence to their own side. Mace Windu was one of the easiest Jedi Masters to manipulate at a distance, but he was also one of the most entrenched in his opinions and in how he viewed the Force and the Order. He would not allow any external influence to influence his padawan, certainly not a 'friendship' with Sidious in his Palpatine persona or any other politician, as Sidious had thought he would be able to do.

 _Of course, if I try to contact the boy like that, and Mace eventually finds out and cuts such contact off, the boy might feel resentment, which could be used to drive a wedge between them. But that is such an ephemeral plot; I don't want to put any emphasis on it. I might have already developed something of a rapport with the boy on Naboo, but that is not going to stand up to the constant reinforcement of Windu's thoughts and opinions._

"Does that mean that Mace has stepped down from his position as Master of the Order?" Plagueis asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, Master. He has been replaced by the Thisspiasian Ranicisis."

"Interesting. Ranicisis is not as predictable as Windu, nor as logical. That could be a problem going forward."

"It already has proven to be a bit of a problem long term. Master Fay has been doing a referendum on lightsaber styles, connecting deaths in the line of duty to specific weaknesses in the Jedi who fell. Niman might well be set aside completely."

Plagueis nodded absentmindedly, waving one hand as if that was of no moment. "The clones will do for them still when it comes time. No, the vergence is still the most important thing. If Windu is taking missions once more, we might wish to take steps to remove Windu entirely if we can get away with it. And we have those samples from Yinchorri… They would incubate even faster than a human, and Windu was the leader of that mission."

Sidious smiled evilly. That was actually a very good idea, and Windu's death would remove one of the most dangerous Jedi in terms of combat ability. But before he could speak, Plagueis looked up at him thoughtfully. "But we should not try to remove the vergence from the Order entirely. No doubt by this point Yoda at least knows that the vergence is and has connected him to the Chosen One prophecy."

The older Sith sneered, while Sidious nodded, keeping his face blank. While he found his master's obsession with the vergence a weakness, the Chosen One prophecy was perhaps one of the most telling victories Darth Bane's Order of the Sith had ever scored against the Jedi. Getting the Order to accept the false prophecy had impacted the Order's ability to fight the Veil of the Dark Side in a subtle but telling manner, and he enjoyed the dark irony of it immensely.

"There is more, Master," Sidious said in an effort to change the subject. _The least Plagueis can do now that he is back and trying to stick his nose in everything is to give his opinion on this point._ "There is talk about some kind of lightsaber retraining center. It will be run by Master Dooku and Master Fay on Serenno."

The two Sith exchanged a sneer at the woman's name, but Plagueis immediately understood his apprentice's concern. Obviously that meant that the techniques that Master Fay had apparently come up with would continue to spread through the Jedi Order. The shield technique in particular had proven to be a lifesaver, and one they had yet to emulate.

"Would you be able to put any Senate pressure on that? After all, I can't imagine the Senate is happy about having the Jedi creating another center of power," Plagueis asked.

"I can attempt it, but it would seem odd that I as the Chancellor would not squash such talk given how I have maneuvered myself to be seen as a friend of the Order. I would have to be very clandestine, and I do not think it would amount to much. Master Dooku and Master Fay are too well thought of in both the Order and the Senate. Some of that, at least, is our own fault in terms of Dooku's position, and his recent activities have made him even more popular in certain circles."

"A spy then?"

"Possibly…" Sidious mused. "We could try to perform the same operation there as we did in the Temple itself."

The two Sith were talking about a program that Darth Paen had created and uploaded into the internal computer system of the Jedi Order, which automatically downloaded into any cleaning droid that connected to it. This allowed the cleaning droids, which had vocal receptors in order to take commands, to record segments of conversation when they were in specific rooms in the Jedi Temple.

It wasn't perfect, but they were an incredibly valuable espionage tool against the Jedi, who had no idea whatsoever that it was there. Force powers could not extend to discovering such minute details of code, and the droids never acted out of character. Indeed, they were not even aware of that segment of their programming. And there was never a living mind looking over the data live for the Jedi to sense.

Nor was the Jedi Order the only place where that program had come in handy. Hundreds, thousands of senators and business leaders were being spied on due to the same code. And there were other, even more esoteric espionage devices in place that only the Sith knew of scattered throughout Corsucant's upper echelons.

"Look into it," Plagueis ordered. "Then send me a copy of everything that has been going on since I have been out of touch. I want to go over it in minute detail, but I'll start with anything pertinent involving the Senate and your plan to slowly centralize authority. Send that to me immediately."

"Of course, Master," Sidious said, no emotion visible on his face. "I do, however, have a meeting this evening that I need to get ready for. The data will be sent to you in a few moments, but I will not be available until late this evening for further commentary."

"That will be fine. It will take me some time to get my thoughts in order about the information in any event."

Sidious bowed, and the connection cut off. A minute later, his anger poured out of him. His lightsaber activated, a red flame in the darkness of the room as he turned and smashed the chair he had been using into kindling. He raged around the room for a few moments, barely keeping control of his Force powers enough to keep them from bursting out from underneath his Force Stealth, before turning and snarling as he exited the room.

 _The old man might have come up with one or two ideas during his time away, but by the Force itself, it is time for there to be only one true Master here! Plagueis has outlived his usefulness._ _ **I**_ _am the chosen of the Force! Not him, not the vergence,_ _ **me**_ _! And I have no need of my teacher loitering around the place!_

Eventually, however, Sidious gathered his self-control together once more. He would simply have to either wait or look for an opportunity to do away with Plagueis in a less personal manner.

 **OOOOOOO**

Despite his conviction that the Sith were still out there somehow and his guilt about their manipulation of him in particular, Master Dooku was wide awake the next morning, waiting for his new students to appear. He would work with the Masters and a few of the Knights who had been ordered to retrain themselves. The Masters he knew would probably need more work. After all had at last a few decades on most of the Knights, and so would prove to be all the more intransigent when it came to changing their combat skills.

At the same time, Harry, Aayla, and the others would train the youngling clan in the Clan Saa techniques, and the remaining Knights and padawans in furthering their own abilities. While this was going on, Lily and Master Fay would observe, getting a feel for the knights and padawans to decide who would join Shaak Ti, Giiett and Alecto in learning how to use runes. They had decided that Mak and Kass would not be introduced to runes just yet, not until Lily and Fay could meet their masters. Padawans knowing things like that which their Masters did not would drive a wedge between them, and the members of Clan Saa had no need to add any more such.

This group was entirely made of Masters and Knights, including many who Master Dooku knew had been forced to come here for retraining rather than simply agreeing to it. As such, he decided to get things off on the right foot.

"I am Master Dooku," he said softly, yet every one of them could hear his voice. It wasn't a Force trick; it was simple physical projection. "You are here because you all practice form six, Niman, the so-called Jack of all trades, master of none lightsaber style. Recent events have proven that this style is not enough. I care not what type of missions you are normally sent on. I care not about what sect you are part of. What I care about and what concerns me is keeping you all alive.

"I see doubt and concern, as well as irritation and other rather self-centered emotions in your eyes," Dooku said, scanning the room for a brief moment before walking through the class. "You do not agree with the council's orders to retrain yourselves in lightsaber skills. You do not agree that you should spend time on more physical Force skills. You believe you are either above them, will not need them, or that your current skills are good enough. Very well. I will not gainsay that just yet."

By this point Dooku had walked through the crowd of Masters and Knights to the entrance to the training area. He reached into a pocket and flipped a switch on a small control device before continuing to walk as several dozen, and then a hundred tiny little training drones appeared all around them, coming out of the small holding areas built into the floor around the training area. These were the same style that he had introduced Harry to when he was training his Force Precognition months ago. Harry was now up to seven of the drones, with Aayla at nine when alone, and together they could handle thirty. Most Knights who didn't specialize in lightsaber combat could handle twenty, most masters forty. Dooku could handle upwards of seventy for a time. Yoda's record was a hundred.

"Instead, I will simply test that belief. If you live through the next few moments without being tagged by my little toys, you are free to go on your way and I will inform the High Council that you have no need of retraining. If not, then I will not listen to further arguments on this point."

Several of the Knights and Masters now looked quite confident. As one the group flicked their lightsabers on, slowly moving away from their fellows into a defensive posture almost automatically.

That confidence did not last very long after the droids began to fire. The tiny droids were being controlled by a nearby combat android, whose intelligence subroutines had been heightened to near sentient level. With the computing ability to concentrate on multiple things at once, this gave the Masters and Knights complete fits, as would any trained group of soldiers with similar numbers. Within three minutes, none of them were untouched. Dooku flicked the switch off then, smiled brightly at them, a very odd and somewhat disturbing expression on his austere face. "I take it I've made my point?"

"That was an unfair and unrealistic test!" said the Sullustan Master Marfel, shaking her head coldly. "After all, how likely are Consulars to run into such numbers? I have never been sent on a mission that devolved into violence at all, let along to such a level."

"There are far more Consulars in the Jedi Order at this moment than Guardians, yet the number of violent missions we are being sent on has risen dramatically over the past five years," Dooku replied calmly. "That information is available to any of you if you wish to check. It is not just my word, it is the High Council who has acknowledged this. The question then becomes, can you guarantee that you will not be sent on a mission which could become violent? Can you guarantee that you would not be targeted by an assassin's blaster bolt?"

The Sullustan master frowned, her face creasing so much her eyes practically disappeared and she wasn't the only one. Several of them were also feeling something like humiliation. Jedi were not supposed to have egos, but that didn't stop many of them from having one anyway. And they had just been made to look like fools.

Unfortunately, logic, which all Jedi, in particular Consulars, believed in almost as much as the Unifying Force, told them that Dooku was right. They could not guarantee that, and yes, more missions were coming the Order's way which ended in violence.

They all could feel the Dark Side continuing to close in, and that too was now grossly effecting their sense of balance and inner calm. In fact, though most of them did not realize it, it was because the Dark Side was occluding their vision of the future that they had begun to become more reactionary, less willing to change.

Yet with their shortcomings logically and very forcefully brought to the surface like this, they couldn't argue. Dooku watched that realization appear on each of their faces, and smiled thinly. "Very good. In that case, we will start now."

 **OOOOOOO**

Elsewhere in the training academy, Harry and Aayla were working with the younglings and several of the padawans while the remaining Knights were being put through their paces by Masters Fay and Giiett in terms of their knowledge of the Clan Saa techniques. They were technically here for that, though mainly they were here to see if any of them proved worthy of learning runes from Fay and Lily.

Lily, however, had decided to watch Harry and Aayla. Not, she had hastened to explain that morning over breakfast, that she thought they would need it, but that they might need a third eye given the number of younglings. Shaak Ti too decided to observe this class, given she was there primarily to learn runes and had already proven trustworthy.

Harry smiled at the younglings and padawans, waving his hands to either side of him as they all to a sentient paused looking into the training area. It was set up far differently today. Gone were the target dummies, replaced by dozens of football-sized balls stacked in a rough pyramid against the far wall from the entrance to the training area. They were all a stark white color, but that was all any of the students could tell from looking at them.

"Good morning, everyone. I hope you're all eager to learn this morning. Today we're not going to work on the stunner technique first. I know that might seem strange given how much progress you all made yesterday, but I noticed that many of you were having the same problem: visualization." Harry laughed wryly. "I thought the tough part would be helping you to project what you wanted. Silly me, right?"

His smile and easy-going manner made several of his new students smile in turn and relax, where before many of them had seemed tense and almost grim. Too often Harry felt that the Order removed the fun of learning too soon, and he was determined to make his lessons as fun as possible.

"So instead of that, we are going to work on a simpler technique today that can actually have a lot of uses in the world beyond the Order's walls." Harry gestured behind him and the top ball on the pile moved to hover over his shoulder. "Today we are going to learn the color changing technique."

As the students watched he flicked his hand at it, and an almost unseen wave of the Force hit the ball. Immediately the white of the ball suddenly changed between one blink and the next. Now it was a deep purple. "This technique is exactly what it says, it changes the color of things. It can change the color of anything, these balls, your clothing, or even… your skin."

Aayla smiled and stepped forward, touching her forehead for a moment. As the students watched in astonishment her blue skin changed yellow, then green. "This can have a major impact on spying missions in the future," Aayla said happily. "Even changing the color of your clothing can. However most people can't quite seem to make the jump from changing other things to changing their own skin color. If you can't don' be discouraged, even Harry here can't do that!"

"Hey, I can change my hair's color! That's enough!" Harry replied with a pout, causing many of the younglings and padawans to fight back giggles, which again was what they wanted. L _earning should be fun; my moms have made that clear over the last few years!_

"Anyway, first we're going to have a little lesson on imagination, holding the image you want in your mind; and then, then we're going to work on projecting that image out and aiming it properly," Harry went on, gesturing the class to sit all around him which they did quickly.

The class passed quickly after that. After a bit of a lesson on creating the image required in their minds, Harry, Aayla, Lily, and Shaak went around the training hall helping the students who needed it. When they were certain everyone understood that part of the lesson, Aayla and Harry set the balls to moving around the room as the students spread out and began the aiming portion of the lesson.

The class quickly learned that if their technique missed the target the thought of the image was still sent out until it hit a target, in this case sometimes one another. After a few moments, Harry laughingly warned them that if they didn't start to truly aim again he would force them to spend the rest of the day the way they were. Since many of them looked like circus clowns already, this was a major threat.

All in all, the first class was a major success, and the students learned a lot about the need to create the image of what they wanted in their minds. This was a skill that would carry over into the other techniques Harry would be teaching them. This would include the normal ones Clan Saa had already shared, as well as a few more based mostly on element manipulation, though Harry also wanted to include teleportation and low-level transfiguration.

But they would not be teaching the high end stuff: large scale conjuration/transfiguration and most of the actual attack techniques. Master Fay and Lily remained adamant that such things remain in the family, as it were. They had debated teaching Harry's Light-based constructs, but experimenting with teaching Quinlan and Aayla had proven that it was practically impossible to teach unless you already had some inkling as to how to bring the Light Side of the Force out. Of all living Jedi, only Fay, Yoda, and Yaddle could do that, though Aayla had been able to bypass that step somewhat.

 **OOOOOOO**

Darth Sidious was not one to habitually rant and rage when things did not go his way. Even he had to admit it occurred sometimes, despite the knowledge that the Force as a whole had begun to shift to ensure his ascendancy. Yet at present, that belief was part of the reason why he was tempted to once more give into the base impulse for destruction that all Sith had to deal with when they began their training.

 _Damn Plagueis! Why can he not simply come down to where I can get at him without provoking a confrontation? Am I really going to have to openly challenge him?_

And that was the nub of it right now. Sidious's machinations in the Senate were bearing fruit, his plans to divert the Order's attention working as well as could be expected. The Order was proving somewhat resilient in many ways, but they were still losing members here and there; four more Jedi had died since Plagueis had returned to the Coruscant system. Despite his inability to yet gain an eye in the training center on Serenno, Sidious was pleased with how the Great Plan was proceeding when it came to the Order itself right now.

Even the work to expand his underground contacts was proceeding apace. The Jedi's ongoing efforts to, as Ranicisis had put it, 'pull apart the spider web,' had flattened or broken the remnants of Black Sun so badly that they would never recover. The Falleen clans which had been on their way to rebuilding the organization were gone now, dead or imprisoned. Several other galaxy-spanning criminal groups had also been hammered, leaving nothing in their place. Sidious had then wormed his agents into the governments most effected by the corruption charges and into the smaller criminal groups, none of whom would ever amount to anything, but were still useful.

Yet the fly in Sidious's ointment was the Veil of the Dark Side and Plagueis. Plagueis was continually pushing his own decisions over Sidious's own. Twice he had forced Sideous to act in ways which he felt were wrong in the long term, and Plagueis's obsession with his experiments, in particular the vergence, clouded his judgment.

 _But that, if I felt he still served a purpose at all, could be borne. His impact on the usefulness of the Veil, I cannot,_ Sidious thought, leaning back in his meditation throne. Not anticipating a call from his master and having a few hours away from his public persona this evening, he had retreated here to meditate. Like all Sith, he felt the complete darkness of the room helped his focus, helped to merge his thoughts with that of the Dark Side.

The Veil of the Dark was designed to do two things: first, to block and overwhelm the connection the Jedi had with the Force throughout the galaxy. Eventually this could be taken to such an extreme that the Sith would be able to use the Veil to actually influence the Jedi indirectly. The second aspect, of course, was to aid the Sith in how far they could see into the future and how far they could send out their thoughts from their physical bodies.

However, for some reason Sidious's control of the Veil wasn't nearly as complete as it should be, and he felt that the reason was that the Veil was still answering to two masters. _Plagueis pulling it in one direction to help him with his experiments in Sith Alchemy in that ship of his and on Wayland. This is pulling it away from me, from my efforts to observe the Jedi elsewhere in the Republic, which in turn allows them to surprise me on occasion._

 _And the Veil is also supposed to be feeding power to us from the Dark Side energies around the galaxy. That is not happening yet, at least not to me, which is very concerning._ Sidious continued to meditate for a time on the nature of what Plagueis was doing, and finally decided. _Even with the additions to our force, the Yinchorri and Maul clones and that hideous abomination he created from Maul and Fett's DNA, Plagueis has not added enough to the Great Plan to make up for his continued presence interfering in my own efforts. No, it is time for him to die. The question is then, how?_

 **OOOOOOO**

Over the next few weeks both groups of students began to learn with various degrees of enjoyment or reserved acceptance. During this time, Shaak, Giiett, and Alecto began their own training in runes.

As Master Fay and Lily had predicted, the runic arrays training created quite a few spectacular incidents of flashing lights and even one explosion to go with several shocked exclamations, despite the fact that they were keeping it as simple as possible at first. Master Dooku also dealt with recalcitrant students on a daily basis. His methodology of taking absolutely no grief from any of them, however, did not change, and several times over that week he simply challenged the entire group to a spar, thrashing them soundly.

Harry and Aayla's classes were easily the best in the academy in terms of how fast the students learned, and they also began to help the younglings start learning lightsaber skills. In Dooku's mind, teaching something like that would help Harry to further conceptualize his own style. It was also one of three skills that he wanted to see from Harry before agreeing to allow him to try to find his own lightsaber crystal.

Not that their classes were completely incident free.

At one point Harry looked up from where he was helping a few of the younglings as he felt their attention suddenly shift to something else. He watched a few of the apprentices and younglings turn and stare as Aayla began to perform a lightsaber stance, whipping her arm around this way and that to either side, then bringing it up right in front of her, poised and ready. Doing so made certain parts of her anatomy bounce, which given the fact that she was wearing her training clothing rather than a cloak, was on display at present. The sight was enough to cause everyone who was male and with a pulse in the area to think for a moment, Jedi training or no.

Aayla felt the stares, of course, along with the spike of emotions from all around her and was looking around irritably while Harry did his best not to laugh. Aayla scowled at him, and he waved her off gently, sending the message, _"Yeah, Jedi aren't supposed to have hormones. Ha, ha, ha,"_ actually saying the word 'ha' rather than laughing. That seemed to help Aayla get over it, however, as did the feel of Harry's own eyes on her, the appreciation and desire coming through their link, and the class continued.

But Aayla was not the only one grabbing attention. Despite the fact that the Clan Saa techniques were becoming more and more well known among the Jedi Order, Harry actually wasn't. He had been entirely insulated from the Order by Master Fay and her legend. But due to the ease with which he used the clan techniques and the fact he was the one teaching these classes, Harry had garnered a lot of interest from the get go. More than a few of the Masters had begun to put two and two together, but that was neither here nor there.

Where Aayla's body engendered a lot of interest from the untrained or still only partially trained padawans and younglings, the women among the knights and padawans were somewhat more complicated in how they responded to the opposite sex. Yes, Harry was handsome, and that was part of it, but the other part was his nurturing, kind manner. Having taken lessons from his mothers (and it was plural there, Aayla knew it) and Master Yoda, he had created his own teaching style which was encouraging, fun, and challenging, pushing the students to become better. Seeing him with the younglings and watching him ruffle their hair or pat heads made the women among the knights and padawans among the class, even the ones who stopped by to observe from Dooku's class, become very…thoughtful, their eyes trailing him as he moved around the room.

Aayla quickly realized what was going on. She had seen other girls react to Harry. Padme in particular coming to mind, but it was amusing nonetheless to see that even Jedi Knights and Masters were not immune to it. _"Handsome, powerful, charismatic, good with kids,"_ she said mentally that evening, as they prepared for their own lessons in the Force and meditation. _"I am going to have to beat girls off you with a stick._

Harry blinked at her, then looked at the memory of what Aayla had seen earlier that day and groaned. _"So, um, should I figure out a way to do make my body deformed or something? It's not like I want that kind of attention. Well, not from anyone else but you, Aayla."_

" _Not even Zule or Padme?"_ she asked, her mental avatar looking at his thoughtfully. At the moment they were in her mind, walking around looking at the memories from the day. Aayla had acted more like an observer today, so this gave Harry a better perspective on how the class had gone.

"… _Not if they've got in the way of what we have now,"_ Harry replied honestly after looking back at her silently, their emotions traveling between them without words.

Zule was fiery and aggressive, but also caring and warm once you got to know her. She was also Aayla's closest friend within the clan, and Harry had seen both the good and the bad from her during their time on the _Explorer_. While he couldn't say he knew the young woman Zule had become during her time at the Temple, Aayla did and had shared her memories of their times together, so that really didn't matter much.

Padme, in contrast, was calm, controlled, and desperately needed an outlet from her normal life as queen, time to simply be a girl. That need, as well as how fiercely intelligent she was, how certain she could be, and how friendly she was, called out to him, though her being two years younger than Harry did make him a little leery.

He couldn't deny that both were attractive in body and mind, but Harry would no sooner act on that then he would cut his own throat. His relationship with Aayla was far too important for that kind of thing. She was the center of his universe, right up there with his mothers in importance.

Tasting the truth of those thoughts, Aayla nearly gushed, her astral image conjuring a chair and pushing Harry into it before sitting down on Harry's astral image and kissing him ardently. _"You are my rock, Harry Potter! It goes you, the Order, and the people within it. Those are my loyalties; those are my priorities. I love you, never doubt that."_

" _I love you, Aayla'secura,"_ Harry said a little breathlessly, then he pulled Aayla's astral form into another kiss, and for a time the two of them were a little too busy to think deep thoughts. But this would not be the last time they had this conversation.

Of course, just because they were helping to teach the students did not mean that Aayla and Harry stopped their own training. Master Fay continued to train them in the mental arts every evening, though neither of them had as much inclination towards them as she did. Lily continued to teach Harry and Aayla how to use runes, with Giiett and Shaak Ti quickly catching up to them. The Togrutan Jedi Knight and the council member had blown through the starter lessons for the runic arrays quickly, despite a number of mishaps.

Master Dooku and Quinlan continued their lightsaber training, even pushing them both harder to make up for the lack of time per day. Dooku continued to teach them politics and even began to push them to actually interact with the Council of Counts once a week to see how politics were played on a daily basis. That this helped both of them build up a rapport with the local leaders was a secondary goal that all the other Jedi missed.

On top of these continuing lessons, piloting was added to their daily regimen. While Aayla and Harry had both had piloting lessons before, of course, those had all been on merchant vessels or Master Fay's yacht. Now they learned starfighter piloting and combat, and it was a whole different ballgame.

Despite that, Both Aayla and Harry proved to be excellent starfighter pilots, and were requested by the Serenno Starfighter Brigade to help them test their new starfighter design, the first version of which finished construction two months after the training center opened for its first class.

It was a little larger than most starfighters, with wings which first swept backwards than forwards and a central body like a slightly squashed diamond shape, much like a _Sprite_ , with twin lasers jutting from the sides of the diamond very slightly. The wings had forward jutting blasters with a reinforced almost shield-like structure on the outer edge of the blaster, connecting and holding the two lasers. The wings also housed the two normal-space engines. The back of the main body of the starfighter contained the hyperspace engine and the fuel tank.

To either side, situated on the wings in the built up section connecting the wings to the main body, were two proton torpedo launchers. Between these two launchers, and slightly aftward so as to not be in danger of any backwash from their launch, was a place for an astromech droid.

As Harry and Aayla walked around it, the Nabooan native who had led the design team pointed out aspects of it, smiling happily at its design. The astromech droid, he explained, was a necessity for this starfighter to help in three areas. First, it saved space which would have been needed to house a computer capable of hyperspace jumps. This space was then used for its proton torpedoes. The second reason for the astromech unit was, of course, maintenance. This design had proven to be a maintenance heavy machine, which may or may not actually force the Serenno government to discontinue it.

"And the third reason?" Harry asked politely.

"Oh, there is a bit of a surprise. Several of the pilots who came back from working with you Jedi to get our people back were impressed by the trick that Master Vos pulled on the pirate dreadnought. The astromech units have been given a program to interact together like a dedicated network system. We call it the integrated targeting network. The droids will all automatically take targeting telemetry from one another when ordered, which will let squadrons of starfighters perform the same trick Master Vos did and even work in a defensive net to help take out incoming missiles or possibly other starfighters."

"How good are the shields on this?" Aayla asked, having hopped up to one of the wings and looked down at the shield emitter.

The man grimaced. "It…well, that aspect isn't as good as we could've hoped. They're…okay, but they're not up to say, those of the N-1 or the Sprites."

Hearing that Harry blanched, realizing that that was a very dangerous weakness. "What if you took the two blasters that are in the body of the starfighter here and replaced them with another generator back here?" he asked, looking at the body of the starfighter from underneath.

"Young man, I understand that you Jedi know quite a bit about this esoteric 'thing' called the Force, but trust me, we've been over this design quite thoroughly over the past few months. Besides, this is only the first of several designs were trying out," the man replied, sounding somewhat affronted before going on more normally. "And between you and I; I don't think it will be the one that will be accepted as the main starfighter for the SSG. We've learned a lot by making it though, which is all to the good."

"What do you call it then?" Harry asked, smiling at the other man's tone rather than taking offense.

"And how aerodynamic is it in atmosphere? It looks somewhat sleek, but I don't know; these side shield portions, they look as if they'd really be an issue with side to side maneuvering," Aayla interrupted, reaching down to push at one of them.

"They are," the man said, smiling at Aayla before turning to Harry. "It's not very aerodynamic at all in atmosphere, really, because of that and because of a few other things. As for the name, we call it the _Falcon_."

"I like the name, at least," Aayla replied, looking over at Harry. The two of them shared a moment's silent communication, and Harry nodded at her. Unlike Aayla, he had actually been involved in space combat before, and while sharing memories was a good way to learn, it was not as good as having the experience in the first place. "So, what do you want us to do?"

Eventually it turned out that this design really wasn't either cost-effective or very good despite its firepower. When the designer had said that the shields were not as powerful as the Nabooan starfighter, what he really meant was that they were almost nonexistent. They could stop one blast from a starfighter's weapon, but a second hit would short them out, and it was proven in a series of tests that despite the best efforts of the astromech droids, they simply could not be repaired without returning to dock. They also required quite a lot in the way of combat reflexes and skill to get the best out of them, being somewhat slow in turning but not reacting.

So that design was scrapped outside of five prototypes, each of them slightly different from eachother. All of them, however, shared the issue of the shields.

After that, Harry and Aayla continued to be called in occasionally, but with that first initial design seting them back so much, it looked as if it would be at least a few years before Serenno really had a good starfighter design to call its own, especially considering that several of the designers wanted to design not one starfighter type, but two.

One would be predominantly a star **fighter** , designed to take on other starfighters. The second would be what Lily, when she heard of it, called a bomber, a starfighter designed to take on capital ships. A combined arms unit like that would be able to handle anything it needed to and be able to do both of those jobs well rather than have a single starfighter that would only be okay at both.

No one involved in the project thought anything about handing over the five prototypes to the Jedi Order. And no one else in the training center, not even Dooku, realized that Lily and Harry had plans for those starfighters.

While Harry and Aayla continued their training, their teaching, and even more training, Master Dooku slowly withdrew from everything but retraining the other masters and Harry. At this point they had enough of a foundation to retrain themselves, and Master Giiett could take over some of the classes. Dooku was always available to teach when needed, but not at night.

At night Dooku no longer took part in their mental and force based training sessions. Instead, he began to use his own Force senses as hard and as often as he could to try and search for anything he could use to identify the Sith,

Dooku was convinced that the Sith was someone he had met in the past. Someone in his past who had subtly influenced his own interest in the Sith. But because of his own guilt over it, Dooku never went to anyone else for aid. He fasted; he meditated for hours upon hours every night rather than sleeping and began to organize his mind in what Fay called Occlumency, never hinting to the other master why he had to do so.

That, of course, would take him months, but Master Dooku was certain that it had to be done, and, just as fanatical, that he would not ask for aid in doing so. No one else at the school had a hint of his new interests.

And so the months passed until about five and a half months after the school had opened, Harry entered his master's room for an evening's study and meditation. Aayla wasn't walking with him for the moment, despite this being one of the few times the two of them could be alone together given their hectic schedules. Quinlan had returned from a mission which had taken him away for a few weeks, and the two of them were spending time together.

When he opened the door to Master Fay's room Harry stopped, looking confused at the tableau inside. On one side of the room Master Fay stood, practically glaring up at Lily. His mother's ghost was staring back at her just as hard. "…Should I come back later?" he asked hesitantly. "Or perhaps get one of the other masters to mediate?"

Both women broke off their stares at one another to look at him and noticeably calmed down. "That is not necessary, Harry," Master Fay said with a smile, gesturing him into the room. "We're not having a shouting argument or anything like that."

"No, no," Lily said with a laugh, sitting down next to Fay and her son, as much as a ghost could anyway, kissing him lightly on the cheek as the rest of her began to fall through the floor that he had sat down on. Grumbling, she righted herself, shaking her head. "We were having a most polite argument, it's true, but it's not a personal one, just a difference of opinion."

"That's good," Harry said with a chuckle. "I can't remember the last time you two argued at all, except maybe about that one runic array, the one that you tried to place on your clothing, Master?"

"Let's not bring that up," Fay said hastily, flushing in a manner Harry had rarely if ever seen before from her.

Lily had been proven correct on that one: cloth could not sustain the power of a runic array. In a moment of surprising stubbornness Master Fay had attempted the reinforcement array only to realize what exactly happened when a runic array overloaded the material it was etched, or in this case drawn, onto. It had been extremely embarrassing for her, and she thanked the Force that Harry had gone to bed a few hours before that, leaving only Lily to see. Her friend's laughter at her mistake still rang in Fay's pointed ears, but at the moment, the memory actually served to calm her down somewhat, and she chuckled, leaning forward to ruffle Harry's hair.

She paused a moment, chuckling again. "I just realized that soon I might have to reach up to do that, Harry."

Harry blushed in pleasure at that, catching her hand in his and kissing the back of it gently. "No matter how big I grow, you'll still be my Master," he said, his eyes shining at her and his mother. The way he said the word 'master' added bit more meaning to it, which both women smiled at, knowing that he really meant 'mother' there. "Now," he said, leaning back but still smiling brightly at them both. "What was this argument actually about?"

The two women looked at one another, and Fay gestured to Lily to start. "You know how we're coming up on the time where that one Lucrehulk will be turned over to the Jedi Order?"

Harry nodded. He knew that very well, he and Aayla having gone out of their way to talk to Padme at least once every month since they had come back to Serenno. He also knew that the various construction projects on Naboo were proceeding apace, and the alliance between Naboo, Serenno, and Kashyyyk was thriving at this point. Despite knowing that a Jedi shouldn't feel pride for his accomplishments in that manner, Harry was a little bit proud of that.

"I want to focus all of the efforts of you, me, and the other students learning runes on the ship as soon as it arrives. I've looked at the design with Master Fay, and there is a **lot** we could do with a ship of that size with such massive cargo capacity. You know how we're limited in how much you can expand an area. I want to create a defensive juggernaut," Lily said, looking over at Fay.

Fay nodded and began to input a few commands into the room's computer, and a small holographic generator popped up, showing the ship in question. "We could put one, maybe even two planetary sized shield generators in that ship!" Lily said expansively.

From there she began to list off a few arithmantic equations, gesturing at the holding areas of the ship. The image began to expand under Harry's direction now as he followed her words on how far they could expand its space using a runic expansion array. Harry was looking at the design thoughtfully, having had much the same idea, though he hadn't made the jump to planetary sized shield generators, and of course he had had no time over the past half a year to think about the project.

Size of the generator, power, and area covered were the three things that affected shield strength. The more generators, the greater redundancy in the shield. The more power, the greater the shield strength; and the smaller the area, the stronger the shield can be over its surface.

"Mind you, nothing we can do with runes will effect the outer hull of the ship, so we won't be able to do much to its personal offensive power. Although they could carry a lot more starfighters like those Vultures," Harry mused, staring at the design thoughtfully.

"Perhaps, but we are going to run into problems whatever we do," Fay cautioned. "Remember that while we can enlarge space, we cannot multiply what is there. I also disagree with the thrust of what the ship should be used for."

Harry nodded. That was something they had run into several times. Space expansion arrays expanded space and the things in the actual wall, but they did not then duplicate the things sticking out of the wall. An example would be that the array could extend the wiring set into the wall to a certain extent, but could not duplicate the lights set into those walls. And if the control runs were not continuous, if they had breaks, then you had to replace them too. Experimenting on Master Fay's yacht had, in a way, forced Lily and Master Fay to become somewhat expert electricians, with Harry right alongside them.

"Further, I am worried about the secret aspect, and am unwilling to turn all of our attention onto this project," Fay went on. "While I have no doubts about Shaak's ability to keep a secret, I would still prefer to keep her and the others well away from truly game changing-concepts, at least for a few more months. It is not their ability to keep a secret that I doubt, it is their understanding that they should keep it in the first place, even from other members of the Order."

"That's a very thin line, master," Harry said, smiling at her and shaking his head. "I understand your point, though.

Fay nodded. "Further, the project itself is too large and would be far too time-consuming. On top of that, there's no way we could run the ship as it is. We would have to robotize the ship to an even greater degree than before. And I do not trust computers or robots that far. Astromech units are fine, but a full robotic crew? There's a reason the Katana Fleet is regarded as one of the worst disasters in Republic history."

The Katana fleet had been an attempt to create a fleet that needed the barest minimum in the way of living crew, automating powerful, state of the art dreadnoughts to the point where they had cut the crew to a bare fifth of their original complement. They had even been slaved together, one ship to another, hence the tragedy: when the crew of the flagship had been infected by a virus which drove them mad, they all jumped randomly into hyperspace. No one had ever been able to find them again.

Of course it wasn't only that example that made Master Fay leery of robots. She didn't like the fact that the Trade Federation used robots to get out around the proscription against standing armies. She also didn't trust computer programming. It was one area where the Force could be little to no help, and computer espionage in particular had proven to be a weakness in the Jedi Order before, one they did not have a real defense against even now. On top of this, she didn't like the idea of even the Jedi having access to what would amount to an army in a can, as Lily put it.

"But then we wouldn't be able to use it for humanitarian reasons either, Master," Harry said thoughtfully. "But from what you're saying, regardless of the mission type we'd still have to keep the expansion charms themselves a secret?"

Fay leaned back, sighing faintly, and Harry looked at her in concern. Fay opened her eyes and looked at the two Potters, shaking her head. "The expansion charms are one of the most important things we have to keep secret," the elven Jedi said bluntly. "Every time I ask the Force to give me a vision of a future where we have allowed that knowledge to spread, the darkness suddenly closes in all the faster! I wish I could tell you why, but I don't know why."

"Oh, that's easy at least!" Lily said, scoffing. "If someone is behind the Veil of the Dark Side, he or she obviously has his fingers in a lot of pies. And possibly even a few eyes inside the Jedi Order itself."

"I wish I could gainsay that statement, but I can't," Master Fay shot back tartly, giving her head a convulsive shake. She sighed again, closing her eyes and raising her hand to rub at them for a moment, looking up as she felt Lily's ethereal touch on her shoulder, smiling wanly at her friend.

As a padawan, Harry was actually not allowed to know about the fears of the High Council on that score, however Fay had told him as much as she herself knew, which was precious little. She had even asked the Force for any hint as to his/her/their identity or whereabouts. Or even his/their overall goal. But what Harry didn't know was that the Force had been utterly silent on that matter, the Veil obscuring her eyesight so completely it was as if she had gone blind. That had been a severe shock to the ancient master, and Lily had been forced to talk her out of continuing to try to get answers from it.

"It is as if the Force does not care!" Fay had said at the time, almost in histrionics, utterly shocked at being so rejected for the first time since she was a youngling. "It feels almost like the Force itself is turning on me!"

"The Force, as I understand it, can't turn on an individual," Lily said, reaching out to actually push her fingers through her friend's face, something she very rarely did, but which served to jolt Fay a little, her eyes tracking again. "The Force is all about this 'balance' concept and the big things, keeping the stars all moving in their courses and such?"

"That is an egregiously simplified concept of what the Unifying Force is, but all right, I can understand what you're saying," Fay replied, sensate once more, at least.

"Then in that case the Force itself might be silent, or its voice might be unheard through the Veil that you've mentioned so often," Lily said briskly. "That doesn't mean that the **Light Side** of the Force has betrayed you. It might be weak now under the Veil, but it's still there and still obviously cares for individuals when the Force as a whole can't. The feeling between Harry and Aayla, the fact they can bring you into their bond, tells you that much. And what about your own future, Fay? Can you still see that?"

"In a way," Fay said, smiling now. "I know what I am doing at the moment is what I should be."

She breathed in, then reached out, initiating her own light kiss on the other woman's ethereal cheek, centering herself once more in the Force as she did so. "You're right Lily. That is enough."

Harry's voice brought both women back to the here and now, smiling faintly. "All right, how about this as a compromise. We start working on the ship in segments when it arrives, just me and Aayla. We can replace our starfighter training with working on the Lucrehulk. I agree that using the Lucrehulk ship as a humanitarian vessel is a massive boon, and it can be the public reason for why the Order is keeping hold of it; no one's going to question us about that.

"And isn't that ship going to be immediately turned around once it's full of parts for Naboo? We can load it with all those parts, drop some off, and then simply keep some of the extras hidden in one of the cargo bays. We can start with a single shield generator and a single cargo bay, then expand outwards from there. It'll be slow going, and we'll always have to be on the lookout for making certain that our work isn't noticed from the outside, come up with reasons why we're funneling material through one cargo bay into another or some such. But it should be doable.

"As for the need to further mechanize the ship, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I am not exactly in favor of the idea either. Although I do like the idea of having an entire fleet packed into the ship."

"You would, my little Guardian," Master Fay said, her good humor now restored. "For now, however, I believe we have some meditation to get to," she said, clapping her hands.

The former Trade Federation ship arrived right on time a few weeks after that discussion, and Harry found that what minimal free time he and Aayla had to spend together practically disappeared. They got up with the sun, and they went to bed utterly exhausted every night. The only time they had was in the mornings; if they woke up early enough they could have a few moments to spend together tenderly hugging or kissing before joining the rest of the Jedi for breakfast.

Harry and Aayla were both happy, as were all the Jedi Masters, that the special powers of Clan Saa were spreading amongst this group quickly. By this point nearly every youngling and all of the older Jedi could produce a shield. Now they began working on holding it and using it in combat against both long range and hand-to-hand opponents. The stunner and color changing techniques too had become commonplace among the group of Jedi at the center.

More than a few of the masters who had been ordered to come to Serenno for retraining and lightsaber practice completely stopped trying to learn a new lightsaber style. They instead focused entirely on these new abilities. The Consulars felt that these and the other techniques Harry was teaching were much more in keeping with their personal combat styles. Dooku wasn't happy about that, but could not argue the point as well as he had when the classes began.

In contrast to those, and even element manipulation, however, teleportation proved to be a nonstarter for many of the Jedi. That technique took imagination, control, and **power** , being far more power intensive than any of Harry's other abilities except for conjuration and transfiguration. The only one outside of Harry's own extended family that could transfigure was Master Dooku. Even Shaak couldn't quite pull it off except in small items like needles. Though this actually didn't matter much considering she could also propel said needle so fast they could penetrate body armor like buckshot.

So all in all, despite being incredibly busy, chaotic at times, and pushing Harry and Aayla to a degree that even full Jedi found hard to keep up with, their lives on Serenno and within the training center proceeded very well for them. Others, however, were not nearly as happy at how things were going.

 **OOOOOOO**

Since his decision to do away with Plagueis in any way he could contrive it, Darth Sidious had not had much time to actually devote to that goal. His public identity as the Chancellor was a full time job after all, a fact he was noting somewhat wryly as he leaned back in his chair in the Chancellor's office after a meeting with the Alderaanian senator. _The man is so sanctimonious and moral it makes my skin crawl, but he is so useful as the head of the anti-corruption committee_. _An attack dog who doesn't realize he is only ever launched at targets I choose. Doesn't make him any less pleasant to be around._

Yet on top of that he also had other tasks, and Sidious punched in a few quick commands into the computer set into desk. He waited several minutes as it went through several thousand security programs before connecting into an entirely different network, which in turn eventually connected him through several dozen cutouts to the computer network in the secret underground base the Sith had built up over the millennia directly beneath the Jedi Temple. Security, as always, was a must, and since Sidious needed to remain here visible and available for meetings for the rest of the day he couldn't get away physically. The Jedi might not be at home with the world of computer espionage, but that was no reason for overconfidence.

The first thing that caught Sidious's attention as he worked his way through the backlog of notes in the system was that Plagueis was away once more, not in the underground base or even in his yacht in orbit, something Sidious had already sensed. With the amount of time he had to devote to his public persona, Sidious had barely been able to notice the absence of the other Sith even peripherally. _Force curse it! Just one evening, that is all I would need. Just one evening where he sleeps on Coruscant!_ As Chancellor, Sidious couldn't get away even for the time it would take to head up to orbit, and even if he could there was no way he could arrive on Plagueis's ship before Plagueis was aware of his presence, even asleep. And Sidious had no desire to face his former master head on if he could help it.

Not that Plagueis was idle by any means on those trips. Regardless of his rising conviction that Plagueis's continued existence was in many ways damaging the Great Plan, Sidious understood that. The older Sith continued to work on his experiments in Sith Alchemy, and while Sidious still felt many of them were abominations and also pointless, there were others for which he could see a use. Plagueis was also handling some of the military aspects of the Great Plan, finding scientists and ship designers the galaxy over who could be manipulated in the future. That was actually what Plagueis was doing at present, meeting in person with a few scientists elsewhere in the Republic. He hadn't left any indication of what scientist or why, however, which greatly annoyed Sidious.

Sighing, Sidious once more pushed those thoughts to the background. Besides, there were many parts of the Great Plan he had to keep moving on too. _Plagueis will die; that is certain. It will happen; the Force is on my side. It will happen; I just need to be patient and grasp the opportunity when the Force presents it to me._

With that thought he turned his attention to going over the other bits and pieces he had to look at, mostly about ongoing espionage work the universe over, as well as the slowly building plans for the Trade Federation's hidden army. That seemed to be building apace despite not having access to the Lucrehulks the Trade Federation lost over Naboo. That had been a blow, and Sidious had not liked the impact that he saw the Lucrehulk given to the Wookies was having on the ongoing low key conflict between them and the Trandoshans. Certainly Kashyyyk's security would be heightened to an entirely new level, even if they hadn't kept most of the Vultures.

The others would have less of an impact. Naboo would be more secure than he would like, but the one given over to the Order after working to pay back Serenno… Sidious let himself actually scoff. _Imagine turning a ship that size into a mere humanitarian aid vessel! Pathetic. I can see Master Fay's hand in that. It might win the Jedi more…affection…among the Outer Rim and weaker planets, but it will also bring more attention there and away from where it really matters in the Core._

With the thought of Master Fay and her subtle danger to the Great Plan in mind, Sidious turned his attention to Serenno and fought back a frown. His agents' efforts to infiltrate the new Jedi training center had failed for the simple reason that no servants or droids were allowed in the area now. And Dooku's mansion too was a closed network in terms of the droids there. Sidious's agents, who of course had no idea who they really worked for, could not make any headway either electronically or physically. _That leaves me with no way of knowing what Fay or Dooku are doing there. I will just have to wait and see if I can find some other way in, or… Hmm… Perhaps one of my pawns in the Order could be asked to retrain themselves there. Yes, that could work._

Making a note of that, Sidious continued to work, only pausing as he noticed another minor report from Serenno. Dooku was apparently getting in touch with people from past missions or meetings, talking to them in person on Serenno or elsewhere. These meetings were circumspect, in person, with nothing truly hinting at what was going on, but they were all over the spectrum in terms of the individuals involved. _But there is a pattern here…_

It hit him like a blast of Sith Lightning an instant later. _They are all people Dooku met during the time he was most angered at the Senate and at the Jedi's complacency, the time when he was looking into information on the Sith!_ For a moment a new, almost unknown emotion filled Sidious, an emotion he had never felt since becoming Darth Sidious in the first place: fear. _He knows!_

After a moment, however, his self-control reasserted itself. The rest of the Order had made no effort in this direction; they were still following the trail he had left them leading out into the Outer Rim in search of the Dark Brothers rather than looking for the Sith. _This looks as if only Dooku only has a suspicion here, and he is clearly acting on his own. That makes this manageable._

Going through his own meetings and memories of talking to Dooku, Sidious also knew he had not said anything to the man which would lead him to thinking of Sheev Palpatineas a possible Sith. _I would have had before long, but his sudden near-retirement to look after his former padawan Vosa removed him from my orbit, and his interest in the new techniques Fay and T'ra Saa have introduced completely removed his desire to learn about the Sith. So I am safe…_

A smile of pure villainous delight slowly formed on Sidious's face, and he fought back a desire to cackle like a villain from a child's show. _But Plague is not… This, this could be the opportunity I have been waiting for. Now…how to go about setting this up and making certain none of it can splash back on me…_

 **OOOOOOO**

Dooku slowly pulled out of his meditation, only now noticing that his shoulders were a bit sore. _I am quite obviously not getting any younger, despite the sheer amount of exercise I have been getting lately,_ he thought to himself with something approaching amusement. The Force could do many, many things, but reversing the touch of time was not one of them. And as a human he had a finite amount of lifespan, unlike Master Fay or Yoda. _I suppose I should be happy I am not as frail as most men my age, but even so the Force can do only so much._

Despite the pain in his shoulders, Dooku allowed himself a grim little smile as he moved over to the window looking out into the sprawling training area. He had been busily clearing his memory, organizing it and going through each memory in turn which he thought might hold a clue to whoever had been trying to manipulate him into looking into the Sith. Dooku had been astonished by how much he had actually retained, but the organization of his memories left much to be desired until he started learning what Master Fay called Occlumency.

Organizing his memory thus also brought to mind a few of his less than best moments and forced Dooku to deal with them in turn. _While I was a good Jedi for the mot part, I might not have been the best person at several points, including when I was training my padawans._

This method of organizing his mind had brought instantly to his conscious mind how many mistakes he had made in the training of both of his padawans. Very different mistakes, but still mistakes. He thought he had dealt with that, and he had in terms of Komari and had even atoned for his mistakes with her. But Dooku hadn't been able to truly atone in his own eyes for the mistakes he had made with Qui-Gon.

 _Still, at least I recognized most of them once they were rubbed in my face. I simply made new ones,_ Dooku thought ruefully, turning to another set of windows on the other wall as he heard the sound of people walking on the gravel walkway leading up to his mansion's front door. He looked out to see Aayla and Harry arriving from a meeting he had asked them to go to in his place. More and more often Dooku had been asking Harry to step up to talk to the Council of Counts as a 'Jedi observer,' something Harry didn't seem to be noticing, though the other counts and their heirs certainly did. The other counts in turn routinely brought along their heirs, forcing them both to take part and to interact with Harry and Aayla. This seemed to have brought out the best in all of them, and none more so than the two padawans.

Aayla was outgoing, and Harry had an exceptionally sharp mind to go with her equally high level of Force-assisted empathy. Harry had an almost magnetic personality when he was forced into the spotlight, though he did have trouble putting himself forward in the first place. He also had an exceptionally good head for business on his shoulders, something Dooku admittedly had not expected. His political savvy Dooku could take some pride in fostering along with Master Fay, but Harry's instincts were his own. _And the boy doesn't even realize what he's doing_ , Dooku thought with a chuckle.

Turning back to the other window Dooku stared out over the training area once more, a single word reverberating through his mind: _legacy_ , _legacy, legacy_. _One half of my legacy will be Harry Potter and this training center, my mark on the Order which will last for centuries longer than my own life. And Harry Potter…he will continue to change the Order for the better, to make it evolve, and possibly to even make the Republic evolve, at least this small corner of it, I can hope._

The smile slid off his face as he stared up at the stars. _The other half of my legacy will be to find this hidden Sith who tried to tempt me. I will find you, and I will end the Sith for all time!_

Dooku did not realize it, and none of the people around him had any way of noticing considering how good he was at not letting his inner thoughts show, but finding the Sith had become an obsession for Dooku at this point. It would be a way to for him to atone, to atone for his near fall and to atone to his padawans for what they had gone through. It didn't matter anymore if it was right or wrong; that was the way Dooku saw it, and he would see this through to the end.

 **OOOOOOO**

Harry and Aayla walked through the doorway, still smiling and holding hands while chatting in their mental plane. They weren't trying to keep secrets or anything; it was simply that speaking mind to mind like that added a bit more tenderness to the few moments they had alone. Moments like this, coming back from a meeting, going to one, or moving from one training zone to another were the only moments of alone time they got these days. Their training schedules and their teaching schedules were simply so immensely hectic they had no time to themselves.

Added to that, both of them had become aware of the fact that Kass and Mak had feelings for one another. They had no desire to rub the fact they were allowed to have a relationship into their friends' faces. That this allowed Harry and Aayla to keep their bond slightly low key in front of the various Masters and Knights was a bonus.

They looked up, however, as a sharp voice brought them out of their personal world. "And wherever have you been, padawans?"

The pair frowned as they heard Master R'sonan's voice, turning in that direction to see him standing at the entrance to the wing of the mansion that had been turned over to the Jedi. Glancing at one another then back to him, Aayla spoke respectfully though the man's tone had put her back up a little, as was the faint tingling of emotions she was getting from him. "We were at a meeting downtown, Master R'sonan. Master Dooku asked us to observe once more, since the meetings of late have a chance of destabilizing the balance of power in this sector."

"Together?" R'sonan asked. The old human Master looked between the two of them, then sighed. "I do not know why Master Fay has allowed this connection to continue, but it must be brought to the Council's attention. The pair of you should know by this point in your training that such entanglements are forbidden."

"This entanglement is a product of the Light Side of the Force," Harry said coldly, taking Aayla's hand again in his from where they had dropped them automatically at hearing the Master's voice. "If you can sense our connection at all Master, you should know that. Further, the Council knows, and has allowed us to remain connected."

R'sonan frowned heavily, then shook his head slowly. "The Council cannot know," he said softly. "There is no way they would allow such a connection to continue. It breaks the most fundamental rules of the Ruusan Reformation. It spits in the eye of the Oath which has kept the Order pure for a thousand years."

"Not so pure as all that," Aayla interjected, shaking her head so quickly she set her lekku to twitching. "There have been twenty fallen Jedi in that time, most of whom fell because they could not be open with their relationships. As for such being at the heart of the Reformation, I thought that the purpose of the Reformation was the fact that the Jedi could no longer form armies or command them. Yes, the Senate then poked its nose where it didn't belong in demanding that Jedi create laws to outlaw relationships and thereby slowly breed the Jedi out of existence, but that was more a side show to the Reformation than the heart."

"What are you talking about?" R'sonan asked, his thoughts suddenly pulled onto a different topic. "The Order is as strong in numbers as it has ever been."

"Wrong," Aayla replied. "We are strong now as we were at the end of the New Sith Wars. Before they began, however, the Order numbered in the tens of thousands. Now, we barely have 11,000 or so from what I know."

"And that is really beside the point," Aayla went on. "The Council does know. We challenged them on it, and we won."

She looked at Harry, and Harry sighed but lifted a hand, conjuring a small Force light into existence around it. With his hand glowing, he reiterated some of the points he and his mother made in front of the Council.

After a moment spent listening, R'sonan frowned shaking his head. "I cannot agree with this. This is dangerous, just as dangerous as some of the techniques you use. That teleportation technique, that alone is far too dangerous for anyone so young to know. I will speak to the Council. These new techniques, they cannot spread further until the Council of First Knowledge understands them better."

"So you believe that you know better than the High Council?" Master Fay asked softly from behind R'sonan, who turned and looked at her askance. "Better than Master Dooku? Windu? Ranicisis? Me? Master Yoda? Do you really feel you know the ways of the Force better than someone who was spent centuries learning about the Force?"

"Your bias towards your padawan does you no credit in my eyes," R'sonan said softly but sternly. "You obviously have allowed your emotions to cloud your judgment on this."

"You have not answered my question. Does the Force tell you something it does not tell us? Does it tell you anything about the future now?" Master Fay replied just as softly, moving towards him. "I can tell you that the Force has not told me anything about the long-term future for some time now. Nor has it told anyone else about the long-term future. But perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps you have found a way to peer through the Veil of the Dark Side?"

R'sonan stared at her, but after a moment had to look away, bowing his head in near-submission. "I have not seen anything more than you have. And, and I can see that their bond is of the Light. But I had just become a padawan when Master Moira fell because she found her paramour making love with another woman. Her love for him turned to jealousy so quickly, and she fell so deep into the Dark."

He looked away from them all as he remembered that time, shuddering before he turned back. "She killed three other Jedi sent to apprehend her before she was brought down in turn. How, how can you say that would not happen to these two? Or to others to follow who attempt to follow in their footsteps? Do not say that it's impossible; such an example, it can only spread."

"It might," Master Fay said, sighing a little. "But the Reformation was not the first time the Jedi turned their backs upon allowing such attachments, and each time has slowly led to our stagnation or destruction. While we might open ourselves up to feeling the emotions of the Dark Side if we embrace the Light, it does not mean we will let them control us. It does not mean opening ourselves up to emotions in the first place is a mistake. And as for that specific instance happening among these two…"

She looked over at Aayla, who giggled shaking her head. She pointed to her forehead, then Harry's, willingly letting him catch her hand as he replied. "Master R'sonan, we're connected mind to mind. We could no more keep secrets from one another then you could stop the sun from burning. There can still be moments of jealousy, but no secrets, and certainly we could never go behind one another's backs."

"Truly?" R'sonan asked, sounding much mellower now. Whether that was because they had slowly been able to convince him or if Master Fay's presence inhibited even a Jedi's desire for conflict, Harry wasn't about to even try to guess.

"Truly!" Aayla replied, smiling at the old human Master now. "Master, I understand your concerns. I understood some of the Council's concerns. But, I also know that a lot of it was based upon false thinking, or perhaps too narrow-minded a focus. We Jedi have to widen our perception of the Force beyond simply keeping the balance, because if something comes along that is outside of that narrow focus, like the Veil of the Dark Side, we are affected all the more because we have no way to combat it. Would the Veil be causing so many problems if we Jedi could learn how to create some kind of Light Side equivalent? If we had been researching the Light Side of the Force, thinking about it, then maybe we could create something like that."

To one side Lily had been watching this conversation but not taking part in it, hidden almost entirely in a wall with only her head peering out. Now she laughed quietly behind one of her ethereal hands, winking at Master Fay who was the only one who could see her from her current vantage point. The ageless elven Master shook her head, sighing faintly at her friend's antics, though understanding her amusement.

They had in fact attempted to create a runic array that would emulate Harry's Force Light. Harry could do things with the Patronus spell that Lily had never imagined, but even he could not create a Light Construct which was powerful enough to burn away the Veil beyond its physical presence. The Light Side constructs could help fight the Dark Side slightly, but the Veil was too ephemeral a thing for it to truly effect, always there, blocking the future. So they had searched for ways to somehow take the constructs to the next level. Yet while Master Fay and now Aayla could replicate Force Light and even create small constructs of their own, Lily and Fay had been unable to find a runic equivalent at all, let alone a step up.

"I, I will meditate on this," R'sonan said, then laughed, ruefully admittedly, but laughed for the first time any of the quartet present had ever heard. "I say that as if the Force has been giving me all that many answers lately that don't deal with my own personal duties. I will try, but if the Force does not tells me that this is wrong, I…I will not gainsay the Council on it. I cannot see this but leading to ruin, but I can also not see the two of you being part of that doom, simply the catalyst for it." With a sigh and a nod of his head the aged Master turned away, heading further into the mansion.

"Well," Harry said brightly after a moment's silence. "That went…well?" This caused several groans from the women still around him and an ethereal smack to the head as Lily moved through the walls she had been standing in to do so.

 **OOOOOOO**

Two days later Harry, Aayla, Kass, Mak, Master Fay, and Lily flew up to the Lucrehulk, intent on taking it to Naboo. The Lucrehulk was carrying all of the parts for the planetary shield generator along with several hundred technicians to help emplace it and to continue to work on the Lucrehulk which would remain under Naboo's command with its hyperdrive removed.

In fact, it was carrying parts not for one planetary shield generator, but for two. The parts for the second were hidden in one of the monstrous ship's loading areas which the Jedi had closed off to everyone else, claiming that they had changed it into a training area. They had hidden the purchases behind several cutouts, and even if someone looked into it they would have assumed the parts were simply spares for Naboo rather than for the Jedi in the first place.

That loading bay was the area where Harry and Aayla had begun work on creating the expansion arrays and everything else that they would be needed. It turned out, however, that Lily and Master Fay had underestimated the number of parts they would need once the expanded area was taken into account. One light per five hundred yards was quite bad, after all. So while the expansion aspect was done, they had barely begun the follow on work and had barely a tithe of the equipment they would need to continue. That was quite daunting considering they had only done the charms on one of the eight cargo holds the ship contained.

Admittedly, Harry and Aayla did not have to be part of this mission, though they both did feel an obligation to make sure that Naboo's part of the agreement was paid in full now that the Serenno had been paid. And after that they would be heading to Kashyyyk, where their two friends, Mak and Kass, would be meeting with their prospective masters. Quinlan would also meet them there after being away for several weeks on another undercover mission, once more with Knight Vosa.

But they were also getting out of Dodge, as Lily put it, while R'sonan and the other Jedi Masters at the school talked to Master Dooku and Master Giiett. Shaak Ti was taking over many of Harry's classes, with Giiett taking on the others while Lily and Master Fay were away. While Shaak had come quite far in her runic studies, she was in no way able to experiment without someone else watching, and she knew it.

Master R'sonan had not been the only Master to have noticed the connection between Harry and Aayla, and they were all looking for answers to that, what had happened, how it had happened, and why the high Council was allowing it to remain in place. After getting to know two padawans over the past six months, they didn't have any real concern that these two would fall to the Dark, but they were greatly concerned about the rest of Clan Saa, the fact that they would all be taking the Old Oath, and the idea of other Jedi following in Harry and Aayla's footsteps in trying to create relationships.

But as a council member, Micah could answer their questions on all of those points, and even why Master Yoda had decided on how he chose to integrate the new techniques. He would not tell them about the Dark Side user/users still being out there, but he would hint that the new techniques could offset the Veil of the Dark Side. Micah would not lie, but he would allow the masters to reach their own conclusions on that point.

So it was a good idea for Harry and Aayla to be elsewhere for a time, just so they weren't around to incite things further. And both of them wanted to check in on Padme. While they had been in contact with her at least once every three weeks or so, they did want to make sure that the young queen had not worked herself into an early grave. There was only so much you could tell over the Hypercom, after all.

Besides the technicians, the Lucrehulk also carried Shmi and all of the other slaves that had either been moved to Serenno for repatriation elsewhere or taken from Tatooine. The group of them in part had organized now, thanks to a large donation from Master Dooku. Shmi had slowly become the head of a small but growing group devoted to freeing slaves or easing freed slaves back into normal society. They were already in contact with several other groups and hoped to create an actual network of both aid stations and more proactive groups which would hunt down slavers and actually free slaves. That last would take a long while, but they were also beginning to slowly build up a public awareness campaign on the evils of slavery, which would hopefully grab galactic interest.

Harry was optimistic, Aayla skeptical, and Master Fay resigned when they heard that one. Lily thought it was a fantastic idea, but Master Fay knew that such things were flash in the pan concepts. They would not have any staying power spread out over the entire Republic, if they could even get that level of penetration, which was itself doubtful

The trip to Naboo passed peacefully if quite busily as Harry and Aayla kept working on the electronics of the expanded loading bay. On Naboo they went down to the palace and were greeted by Padme there, while the parts and technicians were dropped down to the center that Naboo's citizenry had built for the new planetary shield generator.

Padme was not in her formal garb, thankfully. Instead she was wearing a formfitting dress of black that didn't hinder her movement at all along with a small circlet on her head, her hair falling loosely straight down her back. She stood slightly away from the other workers in the palace hanger area, several Wookie bodyguards standing nearby even here, massive and imposing to most.

Seeing Padme, Aayla quickly stepped forward, pulling the younger girl into a hug as Padme's arms went around her, automatically squeezing back just as hard. Leaning back, Aayla studied her friend's face, frowning a little as she saw the dark marks under Padme's eyes and the slight slump of her shoulders. Yet there was a gleam of confidence and a feeling of accomplishment that Aayla caught through her Force-based empathic powers. Though exhausted, Padme looked far better than she had the last time Aayla had seen her in person.

"Jedi who give hugs, that will never catch on, I swear!" Mak said with a chuckle, moving down the landing ramp after his friends.

Harry shrugged, pulling him into a one armed hug even as Mak tried to get away. "Yeah that is kind of weird…" he said after second, letting the other boy loose before looking at Kass.

She laughed, shaking her head. "Don't even think about it!"

Master Fay coughed delicately. "Children, can we get on with it, please?"

Padme smiled at Master Fay over Aayla's shoulder, then surprised the older woman by pulling her into a hug in turn. "Thank you for whatever you did too. Getting rid of my tiredness wasn't even the main issue; my emotions were all over the place, and I couldn't actually force myself away from work." She looked over at the others, then added quietly so that the Wookies and others nearby couldn't overhear what she said next. "I was actually becoming addicted to sleep suppressants."

"I knew that at the time, your Highness," Master Fay said smiling slightly. "I wouldn't have said anything, but you were indeed."

"Well, ahem, thank you anyway," Padme said, blushing now and stepping back quickly to regain queenly poise, gesturing around them. "I've already had my people begin the unloading process at the site. And as for the smaller parts being offloaded here, my people can handle it at a much lower level than my august personage, so I…" She paused, looking back at the Jedi. "I've actually planned the rest of today as a day off. It'll be my first in a while. I was, I was hoping you could all join me?"

The padawans all looked to Master Fay, who sighed, but nodded acquiescence, her lips twitching into a warm smile. "In fact, I think a day off of training will do all of us quite a bit of good."

She looked up at Lily, who smiled brightly at her, leaning down and whispering. Fay rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "No, I'm not that interested in shopping. Hiking, perhaps."

"Hiking works too," Lily said with a smile. "Unless Padme has specific plans she wants you along for?"

When Fay relayed this question as her own, Padme shook her head. "No, not really. I've asked my family to let me stay at one of their two houses. It used to belong to my aunt, but we rent it out these days. It's got the most amazing view over this small lake, and I thought it would be perfect for a day off."

" _You know what that means!"_ Aayla said with a mental giggle. _"Better get those fingers of yours ready for some transfiguration, Harry,"_ she said mentally.

Harry chuckled, but couldn't stop the image of Aayla in a bathing suit coming to his mind. He couldn't quite decide if she would look better wearing a black bathing suit or a pink one.

Once she picked up the image from his head, Aayla replied in no uncertain terms. _"Pink, Harry. Dark pink for preference."_

Kass looked at Padme and was about to speak out, but Aayla quickly shook her head, gesturing to Harry and leaning in. "Don't worry about it. Harry has us covered; you'll see!"

Mak looked over at Harry, nudging him in the shoulder. "You know, I get the distinct impression this is the kind of thing the Jedi aren't supposed to enjoy…or, um, look for? Something like that, anyway."

"I'm not as interested in what normal Jedi are supposed to do as you might think," Harry replied mildly, causing Mak to laugh.

Chewbacca, the leader of Padme's security detail, growled and snarled for a moment in the Wookie language, a small box on his bandoleer translating his words automatically. "I realize with several Jedi padawans along you won't need us, but I feel the need to ask if you want us to come along."

Rolling her eyes so much the others could tell she was doing it for their benefit, Padme turned to look at her towering bodyguard. "You're right, Chewie, I won't need a bodyguard today. You may also have the day off." She paused then, adding wickedly. "Besides, no offense, but I bet Wookie fur smells horrible when wet."

Chewie and the other Wookies near enough to hear her laughed at Padme's joke, and Chewie patted her shoulder in response, nearly knocking her to her knees. "In that case, Malla and I will drive you over there and then go exploring. We haven't had any time to look at the rest of this beautiful planet of yours, Padme." The Wookies rarely used Padme's title, which she rather liked.

The group of young people, truly acting their ages for once, boarded a small suborbital ship with Chewie at the control. It took them out of the capital city to the lake side house swiftly. Lily and Fay did not go with them. Instead Lily floated unseen behind Fay as she took another personal flyer out of the city deep into the mountains, where she would hike the rest of the day away in quiet near-solitude, communing with the Living Force of nature without any distractions. Harry wondered why Lily had decided to go with Fay, but put it down to wanting to give the youngsters some time alone.

At the lake house Padme and the others were surprised to find her mother, who greeted them at the door. "Padme, there you are! Your father and I were just restocking the larder."

"Hello mother," Padme greeted the older woman, hugging her tightly. She had only been able to check in with her parents once since returning to Naboo, she was so busy, but they had been able to go to ground easily, avoiding the Trade Federation's droids so they couldn't be used as hostages against her. "How are you and father doing?"

"Quite well, as is your sister. She wanted to come see you too, but is currently down with a rather nasty cold, and we felt that getting her sister-queen sick would be a bad move," the older woman replied, stepping back lightly.

This let the padawans and the two Wookies get a better look at the woman, and Harry could not stop the errant thought. _Wow, if it's true that you should look at the mother to get an idea of what the daughter will look like, whoever dates Padme in the future is in for a treat._

The woman was taller than her daughter by a good bit, but despite being a little past middle-aged she retained the same svelte, athletic frame as her daughter. She had a chest that looked a little larger than Shaak Ti's, and slightly wider hips as well, though Harry tried not to dwell on those. Instead it was her warm chocolate colored eyes that caught his attention.

Of course, Harry could not have those kinds of thoughts without Aayla catching them, and the Rutian Twi'lek giggled. _"Planning for the future, Harry?"_

" _EEP!"_ Harry eeped, quickly projecting his mental image into Aayla's brain. _"Aayla, you know I wouldn't… That is, I…!"_

" _Harry, shush,"_ Aayla commanded as her own mental image appeared in the hallways of her mental plane. _"I know you wouldn't do anything;_ _ **I know**_ _!"_ she emphasized, touching her forehead against Harry's as she pulled him into a hug. _"But I also know we both, um...have kind of wandering eyes… We, we need to talk about this…"_

" _Wandering eyes? Huh? But, but you've never, that is, you've never looked at other boys."_ Harry actually knew this for a fact, since when they were sharing memories of their time apart on Tatooine, Aayla hadn't shared anything like that and hadn't seemed to be hiding anything from him. _Wait…_

" _Not, not boys, no. We'll talk about it tonight, Harry,"_ Aayla replied, then kissed Harry on the lips before pushing him away firmly, and their consciousness returned to the physical plane.

"Mother, these are my friends from the Jedi Order, Padawans Potter, Secura, Lotor, and Tod. Behind them are Malla and Chewie, two of my Wookie bodyguards I told you about," Padme was saying as Harry and Aayla tuned back in, turning to gesture to the others. "Everyone, this is my mother, Jobal. My father, Ruwee, is inside, apparently restocking the fridge."

"That's nice of them, and please, just call me Harry," Harry replied, bowing over Jobal's hand and wincing.

"Ah, yes, children can be cruel, can't they?" Jobal replied whimsically, smiling at him, then over at Mak. "My, they're handsome ones, aren't they, Padme?" she said as an aside to her daughter. "Now, is this the same Harry that you've mentioned before? You're right, those eyes should be illegal on a boy!"

"Mother!" Padme gasped, flushing while Harry blinked, looking between the two Naberrie women askance. Next to him, however, Aayla simply nodded, agreeing with the point, as did Kass, much to Mak's chagrin. "I never said anything of the sort!"

"Trust your mother to read between the lines, Padme. Besides, this is the first time you've brought a boy home, or nearly home, anyway. Let me have some fun," Jobal replied, waving a hand airily at her daughter before turning and shouting into the house. "Dear, some of Padme's friends staying with her are boys!"

"Oh, Force damn it!" Padme groaned as someone inside bellowed like a raging bull.

"Er…should we maybe run away now? Only, I've seen comedies and sitcoms on the Hypernet that warn about moments like this," Mak muttered out of the side of his mouth to Harry.

"Never run; stand your ground. They can taste your fear," Harry replied, not specifying who 'they' were in this instance.

This set the two Wookies and the two female padawans to laughing as a man moved into the doorway. He was a wide shouldered man, but a bit on the short side, actually standing a little shorter than the two boys. Harry was six feet, while Mak was five foot eight. He wore a gray suit that looked something like a uniform, but not quite, and had a face made to smile, which he was doing now instead of the scowl they had all anticipated, winking at the youngsters before speaking to his wife. "Dear, stop teasing the poor youngsters. Remember what Padme said: her friends would be Jedi. Jedi can't have relationships. Now come inside and I'll show you all around."

"Oh pooh, stop spoiling my fun! Besides, just because everyone knows that doesn't mean it's true, and I know my daughter is certainly interested in a little rule-breaking," Jobal teased, causing Padme to bury her head in her hands even as she walked forward into the house followed by the four padawans. The two Wookies waved their farewells and turned back to the passenger ship, taking off moments later.

"Jobal, be nice…" Ruwee warned, though his voice sounded rather amused rather than censorious. "It's good to meet you all, anyway. There are enough beds for you all, four rooms that you can divvy out and a pull out bed. The kitchen is through that doorway over there. I understand that one of you knows how to cook?"

Harry nodded, indicating himself, while Jobal ignored her husband and continued to tease Padme, only starting to tease the others. This, however, she had much less success with, and eventually after several minutes Ruwee pulled Jobal away. As he did so, however, and just as Padme was beginning to calm down, Ruwee actually let loose a parting shot. "Now remember, we're showing a lot of trust in you, Padme. Don't go and make us grandparents just yet."

"Father!" Padme shrieked, reaching for a nearby sofa cushion. But her parents were both out the door before she could throw it.

"I can't believe they're so embarrassing!" Padme moaned, throwing herself onto the sofa and burying her face into a cushion.

"That actually wasn't as bad as Miss Skywalker talking about past lovers in front of young Anakin," Aayla replied without a hint of sympathy in her tone.

"Okay," Padme said after remembering that time, turning around on the sofa to look at her Twi'lek friend. "Yes, that would probably be more embarrassing. And…" Padme bit her lip, cutting herself off.

Kass and Aayla glanced at one another then laughed. "You don't have to worry about us. Both of us know we've never known real parents. But when we were along on the _Explorer_ we had several different parents to watch after us, and in a way Lily has always acted like she's everyone's mother from the clan," Kass said with a smile.

"That's good. Sorry if I seem overly sensitive about it," Padme said with a sigh, getting up and leading the two girls into the room she stayed in while she was here as the two boys headed off to find the kitchen. "But since I learned how Jedi younglings were taken from their families at such young ages, it's bothered me a little."

"It bothered Lily a lot from what I remember," Aayla said with a frown. "I think she and Master Yoda had a very long discussion about that. I hope that the Order acted on that more than the rest of his suggestions at the time, but I can't say if they did or not. I've never been involved in a mission to retrieve any force sensitive younglings."

"Enough about this depressing topic," Kass said, clapping her hands. "We're here on a break, a day off from training for us two, a much-needed break from work for this one, oh, and the two boys, of course," she added almost absentmindedly. Even as a complete stranger Kass could see the marks under Padme's eyes and the pallor of her skin which said that she had not been getting nearly enough sun lately. _That last, at least, we're going to change today!_ "Now come on, show us your bathing suit, Padme?"

Padme held up a bag, reaching into it briefly, then gasped and turned to the other girls. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Do you, that is, do Jedi even wear swimsuits?" She paused, thinking. "Actually, what do you all even wear under those robes?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Aayla said with a laugh, causing Padme to blush once more.

In the kitchen Harry and Mak were busily looking through the food on hand. Harry had already transfigured the pair of them some swimming togs, and they had both changed into them quickly. "Padme's parents have a lot of good spices here! I haven't even seen half of these, and this bread, smell this?" he demanded, holding out the large baguette to the other teen.

Mak did so, chuckling a little. "Smells good, but you and food, it is so weird for a Jedi to care all that much about something so trivial. Especially you, given what you can do with those transfiguration and conjuration powers of yours.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I am what I am. I took a chore and made it into a strength. Master Giiett helped though, I'll admit."

Mak chuckled. "I wasn't complaining, merely making an observation. Considering that I feast on the fruits of your labor, that would be a remarkably stupid thing of me."

At that point the girls came back. Kass and Aayla came out of the room the girls had been assigned to dressed in their normal training garments. "Harry, can you do something here?" Aayla asked, gesturing down at her clothing and at Kass, smiling happily as she felt Harry looking at her with appreciation already. " _Wait until you see how I look in the bathing suit, love!"_

Harry nodded both to Aayla's question and to her mental comment, raising a hand to point at Aayla. "What color did you want again? For some reason I can't seem to remember…"

"Dark pink, Harry," Aayla said with a laugh, flashing an image of the color into Harry's mind since she knew that helped.

Harry nodded, then began to form the image in his head of what he wanted. Aayla helped, and eventually she was happy with the image. The other two padawans felt the very brief wave of the Force as Harry went to work, changing what Aayla was wearing into the image in his head between one blink and the next. She now stood in a two-piece bathing suit that was rather modest in comparison to what could be found on a lot of worlds, a sporty kind of two-piece rather than a sexy one. _Of course,_ Harry thought, looking at Aayla's body, _it didn't really have to try to be sexy to, in fact, be sexy on my lady._

"Me next!" Kass said with a laugh, looking over at Mak who was looking between the two female padawans, his eyes wide now. "Same cut, only make mine white, I think."

Harry nodded and duplicated the feat, the image already in his head helping to speed up the process quite a bit.

"Thank you, Harry," Aayla said, kissing him on the cheek before turning back and gesturing for Kass to join her in heading back into the room where they had left Padme. Behind her the two boys looked at one another, then away, both blushing at how good the girls had looked.

Soon enough all three girls came out, with Padme also dressed in a bathing suit, a slim one piece. As the boys looked at her she flushed a little, but not a lot. It wasn't the first time she'd been dressed like this around boys, after all. It was just the effects of those emerald eyes of Harry's on her.

"Let's get swimming!" Kass shouted, breaking the somewhat awkward silence and heading out the door with a will. Mak laughed and followed her, with the other three trailing behind them.

Walking beside her friends, Padme chuckled, looking between the padawans. Hearing this, Aayla nudged her with a shoulder. "What?"

"It's just, you are all so different from what everyone thinks about the Jedi Order! I wouldn't be ablt to tell if you were Jedi right now instead of regular young people," Padme explained.

"Regular, ordinary? Those words aren't in our vocabulary," Aayla said, linking her arm with Padme's. "Though admittedly, coming from the fourteen-year-old queen of the very planet we're currently on, I don't think it means the same thing as it would from most people."

"Point taken, but you are still different," Padme said, now looking at them all closely.

"We are, and that's in part because we're padawans; we're not actual Jedi yet. And we're very different from most of the Order in a way. It's hard to explain the difference between the Old Oath and New, but the Old Oath really just…allows for more emotion, I suppose, as well as for relationships at all."

Padme's paused, biting her lip once more in the way that Aayla felt looked rather cute on her. Seeing it for the first time, Harry had to agree, though he sent a comment to Aayla, _"Should I be worried that you find other girls cute?"_

" _Only if you don't, Harry!"_ she replied with a mental giggle, causing him to mentally raise a finger like he was acknowledging a point. He still thought that Aayla was the prettiest, no, the most **gorgeous** girl in the Order, but he couldn't deny that he had noticed that Padme and Zule before her were both attractive as well.

"I did some research into the Order after the last time we talked in person," Padme said hesitantly. "I know that attachments aren't allowed. I remember the conversations on Tatooine on that score, but I want to know why the Order put such a rule in place, and if anything bad will happen to you two if your relationship becomes known throughout the Order?"

"Nothing bad will happen to us, though I'm afraid it will be many, many years before Jedi are openly allowed to have attachments other than us," Harry said with a sigh. "We have a mental connection, Padme," he said slowly. It wasn't like this was a big secret, not like his transfiguration abilities or other powers, but it still felt odd to share it. "It was forged when were very young and facing a bit of a threat at the time."

Ahead of them, Mak and Kass had paused in their walk and moved back to them as Harry began to explain, interjecting their own memories of the Bando Gora's attack on the _Explorer_ and the construct that Harry had conjured up. The description of the massive Jedi Knight made of solid light made Padme gasp, and she looked at both of her friends fearfully as the tale wound to the part where they both collapsed from Force exhaustion.

"Something happened during that," Aayla said. "Something we've learned since was based on my empathy powers, the link I forged to Harry to help him power his construct. But it isn't something we could re-create. It's been there ever since, and yes, we did have to hide it from the Order for many years. But thanks to Master Yoda putting the framework in place, and Master Fay and Master Vos backing us up as well as Harry's rescuing me, we were able to convince the High Council to let our bond remain in place. That's why we were on Coruscant that one time, to meet with them."

"Mak and I, we have a sort of understanding," Kass said softly, taking Mak's hand. "We're not going to act on it, not until we're Jedi Knights, but it's there. If we have to, we would be willing to leave the Order, but we won't. With Aayla and Harry's example, we'll fight to have the same rights to have a relationship that they do, regardless of their bond."

While Padme suddenly worried about being a fifth repulsor, Mak nodded firmly. She looked between them all, but Aayla quickly shook her head, allaying Padme's concerns that they would make her uncomfortable or unwanted.

After that, Harry began to speak again, explaining why the Reformation had been allowed and why it had been permitted to remain in place, in his opinion. The Senate politics aspect of that Padme understood easily enough, though the internal Jedi politics took her aback, having firmly believed before this that Jedi were above such divisions.

By that point the four teens had reached the edge of the lake, and without a word Kass let go of Mak's hand and dove in. The others watched for a time then her head appeared, followed by a hand. "Come on in; the water's fine!"

Laughing, Aayla leaped in after her friend, with Padme following quickly as the boys shucked off their shirts. Padme turned after walking into the water, only to stop and stare, taking in the image for a moment. The two boys were among the most fit she had ever seen. Even some of the boys in the images she had found on the local net her parents would probably not approve of paled in comparison. Harry was slightly thinner in the shoulders and slightly taller, but his core muscles looked to be a little better than Mak's. Both boys, however, were very attractive, and Padme took a moment to memorize this image before turning away.

The boys swiftly dove into the water, racing forward together. From deeper in the water Kass laughed and joined them, leaving Aayla and Padme behind. Aayla, for her part, simply floated on the water, smiling up at the sky with Padme joining her.

"Are you jealous?" Aayla asked after a while, not elaborating further. She didn't have to.

"I may be a little…" Padme said with a nervous giggle as she turned, treading water as she looked at her friend. "I mean, Harry is so…" Padme blushed and looked away.

"I know Harry is **so…**!" Aayla said with a grin, grabbing the other girl by the shoulders and pulling her into a hug, uncaring of their nearly naked bodies pressing together in the water, though she did feel Harry's sudden flare of interest and vowed to tease him later about that. _Then again, I suppose we need to have this talk at some point anyway_. "It's not a big deal if you are, and I've seen Harry check you out too. You are incredibly attractive too, Padme. I bet you could get any guy you wanted to," she said bluntly.

"Any guy but Harry. That's the other aspect I am jealous of. You two, the bond you share is so incredible, I doubt anyone can come between you," Padme said. There was a sense of awe in her voice, but no actual jealousy.

"No, no one could come between us, but…" Aayla paused, one hand moving to play with the end of her lekku in a nervous gesture, the semi-prehensile muscle moving against her fingers and very obviously changed what she was going to say. There were some things she needed to talk to Harry about first. "I'll tell you later! For now, come on; let's catch up to the others."

The day passed by with Padme slowly getting to know Kass and Mak, learning more about what they had been doing lately on Serenno. She in turn told them all about her own work, and the day passed swiftly. That evening she also introduced them all to some of the local movies and found herself falling asleep between the two couples. Despite her earlier concernabout being a fifth repulsor, she had never felt more accepted and happy as she had today around these four padawans. _No expectations, no preconceptions, no need to excel. Damn, I could do with more days like this._

Despite her happiness, however, Padme couldn't keep her eyes open for very long once the sun went down. She fell asleep curled up against Kass, who in turn was leaning against Mak, the only one of the three who was still awake. He looked up as Aayla and Harry stood up, smiling at them both before turning off the holo and leaning back against the sofa back, not questioning what the two were up to.

The two young lovers walked down to the lake shore, walking around the lake for a time, saying nothing, just holding hands. Aayla was still wearing her bathing suit, and Harry thought the sheen of her blue skin under the moonlight made her look particularly enticing.

Feeling Harry's attention on her both through their mental link and through her own empathic powers, Aayla could not stop herself from teasing him a little, pressing into his arm so that Harry's arm was caught between her breasts. _"See something you like, Harry?"_

Aayla was fit and trim, her muscles those of a gymnast or sprinter, her rear small but enticing, with just the right amount of jiggle. Aayla's breasts also felt amazing as they pressed into Harry's arm and side.

" _Every day with you, Aayla. Every day…"_ Harry said, shaking his head at Aayla's teasing nature even as he looked down at her, drinking in the view, not even trying to hide his growing reaction to her. It only came out when they were alone, but the Rutian Twi'lek loved to get a rise out of him both figuratively and literally.

Aayla flushed, enjoying the feel of Harry's body against her own, her hands moving up and down his back and chest. Like Aayla and most Jedi, Harry's muscles were that of a gymnast or swimmer rather than those of a body builder. Even so, he had some decent muscle on him, which included a well-defined six pack. Her fingers traced along older scars here and there, but they defined him rather than taking away from his beauty in her eyes. The emerald eyes currently staring into Aayla's, gleaming slightly in the light of the moon, completed the package.

However, Aayla had something else on her mind right now. _"Remember when I said we had to talk earlier, Harry? Well, I think now is the best chance we're going to get."_

Sighing, Harry nodded, gesturing with one hand. He conjured a small bench for them and handed Aayla down onto it before sitting next to her. _"I had hoped we could just have a nice romantic evening without thinking deep thoughts, but I should've known better,"_ he lamented, now projecting his mental image into Aayla's mind along with the words.

" _Oh, we'll be getting back to the romance soon enough, my love,"_ Aayla replied, her own image appearing next to him. She took his hand and began to lead him down the hallways of her mental plane, looking for a few specific memories. _"But right now, we need to talk about this."_

She paused for a moment, then decided to take the plunge. _"Remember when I said I wasn't jealous, and that I had a wandering eye too? Well I do, but, not for other boys. The only man who has come close to making him notice him with first you around and then the memory of you was a young knight named Kit Fisto, but I was already connected to you long before I met him. But, but I have looked at other girls. In fact…"_ Aayla paused, then reached out a hand, catching a specific butterfly out of the air of the cavern they were now in.

She gestured for Harry to touch it as she went on. _"In fact, I had a bit of a crush on Shaak Ti at one point."_ The image was of Shaak, of course. Several dozen images, in fact, all organized into one butterfly showing the Togrutan Jedi from several different angles and from several different times when she and Aayla were talking or otherwise interacting. _"'Course, she never even noticed, or if she did she never acknowledged it, which looking back I'm happy for. It would have ruined our friendship, I think, since she has never shown any indication she was interested in romance at all, let alone with another girl._

" _And I sure noticed Zule a time or two. And there's something about Padme, something that is drawing me to her, just like it is you."_ Aayla shrugged, answering some of the questions she felt coming from Harry before he could voice them. _"I don't know if I was always going to be bisexual, or if that is some carryover from our connection, and my interest in the male body besides yours went away because you're about as straight as a hyperspace jump. But it is what it is."_

" _So, so where does that leave us? I thought, I thought after we met up again, after our bond deepened so much and our hormones had been added in, that we wouldn't even look at other people. But I can't deny that I've noticed other girls…"_ Harry admitted, his projection looking a little shame-faced even as his arms went around Aayla's body, his hands falling to her hips. It wasn't as if Aayla hadn't already known that, but it was the first time he had actually admitted it. _"And Zule for sure is one of the ones I noticed. I just, I…"_

" _Jealousy is one of the emotions which cause Jedi to fall, Harry, but with this bond, we both know what the other is thinking and feeling. Jealousy won't ever come into it, not on our end…"_ Aayla murmured while kissing Harry's neck, trailing kisses up his neck and chin. The feelings in their mental plane were almost exactly the same as physically, thought they hadn't gone any farther in the mental plane than in the physical one.

That didn't stop Harry from shuddering slightly, but he still nodded, his arms tightening around Aayla as they both reached the same conclusion. " _If we both know about it and if we can somehow share this connection with someone else like we did Mother Fay then…then why not share?"_

" _Exactly, though we'll need to be slow about doing it, and…"_ Aayla replied.

" _All firsts have to happen between us first, then we share them with others. And we need to make certain they know that…"_ Harry answered, the two now sharing thoughts so quickly they were finishing one another's sentences.

" _It won't be like whoever it is would be secondary, not quite, but they would have to know it wasn't exclusive…"_ Aayla said with a smile, before Harry twisted his head down just enough to capture her still wandering lips in a searing kiss.

The two lovers found themselves back in the real world once more, as Harry pushed Aayla back against the side of the seat he had conjured, kissing her so ardently it took her breath away. He broke off for a second, letting them both gulp in air, murmuring, "And that, I think, is enough of the deep thoughts. Now it's time to go back to the romance…"

 **OOOOOOO**

Deep into his mediation, Dooku had continued to go through his memories year after year, slotting them into place in his new mental plane, which in his case looked like a library. He had just gotten to an image of a Senate party he had been forced to attend with his old friend Sifo-Dyas, and suddenly gasped as the image of the banking clan chairman filled his mind, the words he had spoken to the two Jedi coming back to him with such clarity that Dooku knew the Force was telling him something.

The Muun, Hego Demask was his name, had attempted to warn the Jedi of the Senate, had talked about the Senate and the Jedi Order both falling into a trap of complacency. He had said that the Senate was collapsing in on itself, and the Order might follow.

There was more to it, but now, now Dooku sensed an undercurrent there, a current of controlled anger and avarice, even a hint of Force power which Dooku had not felt at the time. He knew. Dooku knew with certainty that the Force was telling him he had found the Sith Lord.

After a moment Dooku regained control of himself. _I must be cautious. I must be centered in the Force before I undertake this task. I must prepare. I also,_ Dooku, thought, surprised to find a small smirk crossing his face, _need to find the man in question_.

With that in mind, Master Dooku absented himself from the training center, devoting his entire time to researching his target. Even now, however, the idea of asking for aid did not occur to him, or if it did, it was waved aside. Dooku might not have fallen to the Dark Side, but the guilt of how close he had come to doing so still haunted him.

 **OOOOOOO**

Darth Sidious gasped, leaning forward in his throne as a trembling hand rose to wipe his face as blood streamed down from his nose and from his eyes. Now he was certain of it: having two masters was greatly dissipating the effect that they could get from the Veil. Yes, it wasn't quite strong enough for him to truly manipulate Jedi minds, if it ever became that powerful, but sending a specific force vision like that should've been easier. Sidious knew that he would have to spend an hour or so in the bacta tank to heal himself before once more donning his public guise. _Nonetheless, it is done. Dooku knows about Plagueis and will take action against him._

 _All the connections between myself and Plagueis have been removed. As much of the superstructure of our Order is no longer connected to him as I can make it, although the Jedi might be able to discover some of his personal dealings with the Hutts and others. But the Hutts never saw my face, and they and others Plagueis have met have no notion of my existence. Dooku will strike, however he does, though I have no idea how he will go about it, and Plagueis will be removed._

 _I will have to move quickly after that to make certain that he did not try to clone himself and thus live forever via Transfer Mind. I doubt he has; the fool always looked down on that technique for some truly quixotic reason. Still, best to make certain. And I can also remove myself from Coruscant for a time so I am not even around when Dooku attacks him. The timing for that will need to be both exact and seem random, lest Plagueis somehow discern what I have done. Not that he will; the fool trusts me._

Sidious let himself chuckle evilly as he pushed himself back upright in his chair, shaking his head wearily. _A Sith who trusts others! Truly, teacher, you were ever a flawed creature. It is time to remove the imperfection from the Sith Order and thus bring the Great Plan closer to fruition._

 **OOOOOOO**

The next day the younger people returned to their daily lives of padawans and queen, meeting up with Master Fay and Lily back in the palace after Chewie and Malla had picked them up with the liner. Harry noticed that something had gone on between the two, but what it was he couldn't quite put his finger on. They seemed to be smiling at something when the quartet of youngsters returned to the capital city, so it must not be anything bad. Setting that to the side, Harry talked with a few of the technicians he had spoken to on Serenno and on the way here, while Aayla and the others talked with Padme and her two maids/friends, who had not joined them yesterday during Padme's day off.

"Then again, we're sensible. We have a day off every week!" Eirtae said tartly. She was slightly shorter than the other maids, with short-cropped blond hair and a tough, no nonsense attitude to her. Padme had mentioned once that she had been in the running for queen just like Padme, but they had become firm friends since. She was very good at organization and politics, but not so good with people or economics.

"Randomly, it must be said, and we normally just use it to go shopping or drop into bed unconscious for a few days," Sabe said, pushing Eirtae lightly in the shoulder.

"Well, at least on this trip you won't have to worry about her killing herself through overwork," Aayla laughed, winking at the two of them. Of the two girls, Eirtae was actually Aayla's age, whereas Sabe had just turned fifteen just like Padme.

By this time the Lucrehulk had been emptied of all the parts destined for Naboo, and hundreds of workers including dozens of Wookies were already working on emplacing the shield generator where the locals had begun work on a station. About half of the Wookies who had been transported to Naboo would be leaving with the Jedi and Padme's small group, taking command of the Lucrehulk that would be sent to Kashyyyk. That ship would remain there, and would probably be overhauled to an insane degree before beginning to ply the space ways between Kashyyyk and their colony world. The idea was to take the Jedi Order's new ship to Kashyyyk and then from there head back to Serenno, while Padme would bring back still more Wookie technicians to Naboo.

After saying goodbye to his acquaintances, Harry moved over to Chewbacca and his wife, eager to ask them questions about Kashyyyk which he hadn't been able to ask yesterday. That discussion drew in several of the other Wookie guards, those who were not on duty, anyway, and Master Fay and Lily, while the others continued to wait for the shuttle to be made ready. "It sounds fascinating," Lily said after a moment, with Harry providing the words for the Wookies. "Six whole different ecosystems! All set up like, like layers on a cake?"

That description had all of the Wookies howling in laughter, and Chewbacca replied through his guffaws, his voice coming from the translator device on his bandoleer and from Harry's Force-based translations. "Yes, perhaps the most poisonous cake in the universe! If you try to cut to the bottom of this cake, you'll die for certain. Very few Wookies have ever been to the planet's actual surface and lived to tell the tale."

"My mate is being far too humble," Malla interjected, chuckling and taking his hand in hers. She was a slightly smaller Wookie, with russet colored fur rather than brown like Chewbacca's, but it was only because of the number of beads she had in her hair and her slightly more dulcet tone of roar that Harry could tell the difference between a male and female Wookie anyway. "He has personally been to the Shadowlands and returned. It was a mark of great bravery," she said, gently touching the bandoleer Chewbacca wore across his chest.

Harry glanced at Chewbacca, then back at Malla before laughing. "Let me guess, it was for a girl? A certain, specific girl?"

Chewie chuffed with laughter, pushing Harry's shoulder playfully, or rather, playfully for a Wookie. Harry staggered backwards a step, but he was still grinning as the Wookie replied. "As if you wouldn't do anything different for that Twi'lek of yours!"

"True enough," Harry said with a laugh, turning as Padme, her two maids, and the other three padawans gestured them to the shuttles which would take them up to the Lucrehulks. Once in space the group split off, with the majority of the Wookies heading to one Lucrehulk, while Padme and the others joined Harry and company on theirs.

The living quarters on the Lucrehulk were just as large as the rest of the ship, redesigned over the past few months for a smaller crew, but with more space for each member of said crew. Each cabin was the size of the original captain's quarters. The group heading to Kashyyyk for the trade meeting had their own rooms, a small interconnected suite with one room entirely devoted to clothing and examples of trade goods. They needed it, because, as Padme said, "I will have to be dolled up in formal garb for my arrival there. Dammit."

Harry and Aayla showed the others around the crew quarters, but did not show even Padme the cargo bay that the two of them and Master Fay had slowly been working on over the past few months. After making sure the trio of Nabooans and the Wookies with them were happy with their quarters, Harry found Lily and Fay once more smiling at something together, Lily hovering over Fay's shoulder as they moved around the bridge.

They turned as he entered, and he smiled at them before gesturing around the bridge then back over his shoulder. "You know, we will eventually need a crew for this ship? Why don't we ask the Wookies for help while we're on Kashyyyk?"

"That's not a bad idea in the long term, Harry, but let's finish our work with that one hangar bay first," Lily said, nodding her head. "We have no idea how many people we will need eventually, after all."

"Indeed, I think that is actually quite an excellent idea long-term. I think we grossly underestimated how much mechanization we would need to operate this ship. The Nabooans thought they were doing us a favor removing all the droids and much of the operating code, but they really weren't. It will take time to change things around, yet it must be done."

"Maybe," Harry said thoughtfully. "Maybe. I have to wonder if maybe there are some ways we can use runic arrays to do the same thing."

"I doubt it, Harry," Lily said with a sigh. "The ship's too large, a lot of the interior bulkheads are already going to be covered with the expansion and durability charms, and there is only so much we can do with runes. Runes, after all, can't think, and a crew can do a lot better than even robots in a lot of ways."

"True enough," Master Fay said with a sigh. "And we will have to build up a crew that we can trust eventually. But not just yet."

"All right. It's not like we're about to be attacked, anyway," Harry said with a chuckle.

Lily's eyes rolled, and her hand came to rest on her face, shaking her head as Master Fay asked, "Why is that important?"

"It's just, the number of people we have aboard could never fight with these ships properly."

"Harry, we've talked about this! Why do you continue to say things to tempt the fates?"

Now it was Master Fay's turn to roll her eyes. "I still say that calling Harry the Force's Lancer is a better concept than simply blaming all his mishaps on such an ephemeral thing as luck, no matter if you stick your last name in front of it, my dear."

Lily laughed, shaking her head, while Harry blinked, thinking he had caught something in the words 'my dear' that hadn't been there before. "Harry might be the Force's Lancer, but that's simply a new style of Potter-like. I've told you his father and his grandfather all had the same kind of luck. Remember when I told you about a few of his adventures!"

Harry looked between them as the two continued to jibe and laugh, the feeling of his mother's laughter rolling over him. A Force Ghost's laughter was like that, almost like being near a Patronus, but not quite as powerful. "I don't get why you find that so funny, and I'm not certain I want to know what stories my mother's been passing on about my father." He winked at his mother, who giggled, before shaking his head. "Still, I actually agree with my mom on this one. I probably shouldn't have said that."

 **OOOOOOO**

"Really shouldn't have said that! Really shouldn't have said that!" Harry said the next day as alarms blared the moment they came out of one of the hyperspace jumps to Kashyyyk. The scanners of the two Lucrehulks reached out as they came under a sporadic amount of fire from right in front of them. The fire trailed off for a moment as if the attackers, about three dozen retrofitted merchant freighters of various sizes and two dozen gunboats, seemed to realize that there were two Lucrehulks rather than one. But they stiffly began to attack once more

The shields of the Lucrehulks were decent enough for their size, not truly up to a real capital ship's, but they were better than most. Therefore they held under that first hail of fire easily, allowing the Wookies, Harry, and his friends to realize what was going on and start to react.

"Enough complaining," Master Fay said, moving into the captain's chair while Padme raced to one of the stations controlling the turbolaser batteries, Sabe and Eirtae following. The elven Jedi's eyes closed, her Force powers reaching out. "Deal with the problem first, then about being the Force's Lancer later!"

With a few clicks of a button from where he was sitting, Harry brought the shields up to full power, while Aayla, Kass, and Mak began to man the remaining weapons stations as best they could. Mak put half of the secondary weapons on automatic, keying in the other Hulk as the only friendly ship in the area, then began to designate the ships attacking them by level of threat, while Kass began to analyze the attack.

To one side an image popped up of Lisherovokkka, the leader of the Wookies sent to Naboo to take command of their Lucrehulk. "Those are Trandoshan vessels!" he shouted, eagerness and fury both coloring his tone, though the translation device leached much of that out. "I don't know why they're attacking us like this, but I know those ship designs. The Trandoshans have often tried to raid our planet for slaves and for other things."

Aayla shuddered a little, and Harry looked at her quickly. Aayla replied telepathically, not wanting Padme or the other girls to overhear. _"I talked to Malla at one point, and I mentioned the Trandoshans and their feud with the Wookies. Apparently the Trandoshans think Wookies make both good slaves and good eating."_

That was a revolting and horrifying thought, and Harry felt his mouth set firmly. "All right, so are we going to take prisoners here, Master Fay? We might not be able to fight these ships as well as we could, but I think we still have this group outgunned."

"Not so much," Master Fay replied softly, her eyes not opening as she addressed the bridge. "There is another group coming in from behind us."

Taking this as given, Harry quickly shifted the ship around such that the two Lucrehulks had their engines facing one another so that neither had a blind spot which wasn't subsequently covered by its fellow. That surprised the attackers, but they soldiered on. This wing of the assault was another three dozen or so makeshift merchant vessels, with three squadrons of starfighters.

These were pure starfighters; none of them had proton torpedo or concussion missile launchers. But the gunboats in the first wing of the attack did have concussion missiles. They roared in with the starfighters from all around the two massive Lucrehulks, covering the starfighters and sometimes dying under the blaster bolts from the Lucrehulks, but landing heavy hits with their missiles on the shields.

Mak cursed, trying desperately to keep his voice down so that Master Fay couldn't hear as his fingers danced over the controls. This was the first time he had been in a space battle, and he was finding that even with his Force Precognition he simply couldn't predict the moves of the attacking ships. They were almost always somewhere where his fire wasn't. Kass was having a slightly better time of it.

Padme and her maids weren't having any better luck at first, but Mak's first move had bought them some time. The automated secondary weapons were now on full defensive fire mode, and many of the starfighters and even a few gunboats had died to their fire.

Next to Mak, Harry was busy with the shields, while beside Harry Aayla was trying to keep their ship and the Wookie's ship together. The Wookies, unmindful of tactics, had raced forward, trying to get to grips with the attackers. But the Lucrehulk just wasn't very quick, and without Aayla keeping their ship following the Wookies, they might have been surrounded. But the shields of the Lucrehulks were up to this fight so far, creating something like a stalemate.

"These ships don't have enough firepower to get through our shields at full power," said Harry, glancing over to where Master Fay was sitting in the captain's chair, her eyes closed and her hands folded in front of her. Then his Force senses tingled, and he looked back at the radar screen. "We have more incoming! They look like capital ship-sized proton torpedoes!"

Proton torpedoes were primarily weapons designed to take on capital ships and could come in a variety of sizes. They weren't as quick as concussion missiles, so weren't utilized very often against starfighters and were sort of overkill on most pirate vessels, hence why most gunboats didn't carry them. However, the two Lucrehulks had no fighters out, for the moment anyway. Judging from what little Harry could hear from the other side of the coms, the Wookies were trying to get at least a few of the Vultures still on their ship up and running.

"Lisher was correct," she said after a moment, as the ship rocked very slightly. "They are Trandoshans, all of them. This isn't even a pirate fleet; this is a privateer fleet."

Even as busy as he was, Harry understood the difference there, though he had to say, "That's nice Master, but I don't think what kind of fleet they are really matters."

"At the moment it doesn't overmuch, but the type of minds I am dealing with does. Trandoshans are just different enough from most sentients in terms of how they think that it will take me a little bit longer to effectively use my Force powers on them," Fay replied calmly.

That calmness reached out to the padawans and the Nabooans, even the Wookies as they raced onto the bridge, calming all of them down and letting the padawans once more find their center. Their defensive fire immediately got better. Kass and Mak knocked down several more incoming proton torpedoes, as well as several starfighters.

Harry nodded, glancing over at Aayla and reaching out once more telepathically _. Should we try to use the "Falcon and the Eagle?"_

" _No, Harry!"_ Aayla said, not looking away from her controls. _"There are too many gunboats out there, and they're too close. All of them can't have shot their magazines dry. I don't know if we'd be able to get out of the hangar bay without coming under fire, and we still haven't finished working on toughening their armor up enough!"_

" _I think that's going to be our priority going forward, love,"_ Harry replied. _"I'll convince my mom that a decent offense is the best defense at this point. We just can't fight with this ship like this, not against an even opponent. And if we can't bring in enough people to run the ship, we're toast."_

" _Not this time, Harry,"_ she replied, even as Harry's fingers danced around the bottoms of the shield controls, using his Force Precognition to reroute power from one shield quadrant to another as it came under fire. More proton torpedoes hit, the energy flaring out over the shielding, but because of Harry's work they were not able to penetrate. The turbolasers under Mak's instruction lashed out, destroying several gunboats.

"What should be my priorities be here?" Master Fay asked the crowd of younger Jedi. She couldn't concentrate both on targeting individual minds out there and keep the entire battle in her mind; getting into the Trandoshan's strange psyches was too hard.

Just then the other Lucrehulk twisted slightly. The reason for this became apparent, however, when the massive hangar doors at the front of the ship opened, and over a hundred Vulture fighters were suddenly launched into space.

The effect on the battle was instantaneous. The attackers broke, the gunboats and starfighters putting themselves between the attacking Vultures and the retrofitted merchant ships and freighters. Only two ships didn't, a pair of medium sized yachts a little larger than Padme's personal yacht which twisted and turned away, trying to escape the area of space the battle was occurring in.

"Can you stop them?" Harry asked quickly, looking over at Master Fay, gesturing with one hand towards the screen which showed the images of those ships. It was evident to him that they were getting ready to jump to hyperspace.

Master Fay cocked one eye open for a moment and looked at the ships, then nodded and closed her eyes again. On those ships several officers suddenly collapsed, their minds cut off from their bodies, slipping into darkness. The rest of the crew panicked, unable to figure out what it happened, but one ship was still able to make a successful hyperspace jump.

The other drifted, and Harry, linked with Aayla, moved to take advantage quickly. The two Lucrehulks now lunged as one, closing quickly, and Mak, with something approaching un-Jedi like glee, targeted that ship and others with all the weapons that could bear on them. Turbolasers cracked out, and now that the attackers had to worry about the Vultures, the Lucrehulks were finally able to do some real damage to the yachts and merchant ships which were the real strength behind this attack.

The stopped yacht's shields went out quickly, fire raking its hull and smashing its engine to flinders. Four merchant vessels exploded, torn apart and unable to dodge the sudden fire from the larger Lucrehulks. Now Master Fay also lashed out, knocking out any mind she thought looked like that of an officer. Yet at the same time, the others flushed their racks, and dozens of proton torpedoes were now in space.

The Lucrehulks took a battering, their shields fluctuating badly, and the Wookie vessel's shields went down in places. But with the Vultures in the air and their cohesion lost thanks to Master Fay, the attacking fleet could no longer win this engagement. The Lucrehulks were simply too large, and though the Vultures were running on what looked like barely acceptable skill in terms of their robots, there were too many of them. A lot of the Vultures were still destroyed by the gunboats, who were the natural predator of starfighters thanks to their concussion missiles, but they should've still run away.

Instead the entire fleet stayed and fought, barring that one ship which had escaped. When asked about it, the Wookies explained that running away like that, would have been an act of cowardice that would have shamed the Trandoshans, especially after they were the ones who had sprung the ambush. Wookies actually used a word with quasi-religious connotations for some reason that Harry didn't understand.

They had a bit of an issue as the fight wound down. Master Fay got into an argument with the Wookies who wanted to simply destroy all of the ships that had attacked them. Indeed, they were still hammering a few of the merchant vessels which had lost all their defenses into pieces. The enmity between the Trandoshans and the Wookies did not just go one way, after all. But she convinced them that live prisoners would be better in the future. "The fleet here was ordered to attack us by the Trandoshan government. We need to find out why."

Padme nodded grimly. "I would assume that they are worried about the balance of power in the area shifting thanks to the Wookies receiving a Lucrehulk," she interjected, looking through the screen that the Wookies on the other side. "But if so, this could just be the first act of aggression."

The two women's words seemed to carry the day, and Lisher nodded. "We will board the ships then."

"Actually," Harry said, standing up and moving over to join the two, placing a light hand on Padme's shoulder as he leaned over her to be seen in the screen. "Why don't the Jedi take one of those ships? The one that tried to escape with the other yacht. I would assume that the leaders were the ones who tried to run away."

"That's not necessarily the way it is among Trandoshans," Chewbacca rumbled from behind him. "But they could have had orders to run and report the outcome. Or to not sacrifice themselves, in which case maybe there are some leaders on there."

"The individual who was controlling the fleet fled in that other ship; his crew acted swiftly despite my knocking him and several of his lower officers out," Master Fay said thoughtfully. "However I sensed that the second-in-command is on the yacht which did not try to jump out. If we can get any answers, we can get them from him."

"Boarding a Trandoshan ship is going to be tricky," Lisher said dubiously, with a hint of eagerness in his voice despite that. "Are you sure you don't want us to do it?"

"Positive," Harry replied with a faint smile, looking around at his fellow padawans. "Our Force abilities give us a much easier method of taking prisoners than you. And no offense, but…" Harry gestured towards the main screen where the rest of the fight had ended after the Wookie's Lucrehulk had continued to blast the other attacking ships into pieces. "You guys seem to have a bit of an anger issue that might get in your way of taking actual prisoners."

For a moment Lisher simply looked at Harry, then back to Master Fay. "He is not one of your Order's diplomats, is he?"

Everyone howled in laughter at that, more a release of tension than anything else, while Harry pouted, and Padme patted the hand on her shoulder consolingly. "Agreed!" Chewie said after a moment. "Myself and a few of my warriors will go with you. The rest will stay here with Padme."

Padme made to protest that, but Harry held up a hand before even Master Fay could. "This might already be turning into a diplomatic incident, Padme. Chewbacca's right; you need to stay here, safe."

Turning in her chair, Padme glared at him, and Harry backed away quickly. "I'm not saying you can't handle yourself, I'm just saying that you were attacked on the way to Kashyyyk while you were under the Wookies' protection. The protection of their government, not just the group of Wookies assigned to protect you as part of the trade deals between your people. You putting yourself on the firing line under those circumstances would be a blow to their pride as much as anything else."

Chewbacca nodded firmly, the voice coming over the translator somehow adding more weight to his words as he looked at the young queen seriously. "The battle is over; this is simply the mop up operation. You performed well, but you have no need to prove your courage to us, Queen Amidala."

The use of her title brought Padme up short, since Chewie and the Wookies rarely used it, even in public. Then she smirked at the two men. "How about a trade? I have no desire to stay in a formal embassy while I am on Kashyyyk. The planet sounds so fascinating I would actually like to look around. I realize that Wookies don't normally allow offworlders to explore their planet, but perhaps I could at the very least explore your capital city? And stay with your family, Chewbacca, rather than at the Republic embassy?"

Chewbacca laughed, and Malla, stepping up behind him, nodded her head firmly. "We would be greatly honored to house you and the Jedi in our tree." The word actually translated to some odd mix of tree and home in Harry's mind, but the translation box simply used the word tree for some reason.

With that out of the way, Harry and the other padawans made their way with Master Fay to the hangar bay, boarding the small shuttle. Chewbacca took the controls with Aayla as his copilot, while Harry pulled out a datapad and began to make some notes on it.

Master Fay looked at him, and he smiled in reply. "Just making a list. Fighting with the Lucrehulk like we did told me a lot about what we need to do to make it as effective as we can. So I'm just making a list of what we will have to work on in the future, both with the Force and with simple electronics."

At that Mak leaned over his shoulder and began to give his own input on that, while Fay closed her eyes and meditated, preparing herself for the coming action. It turned out, however, that the boarding action was quite anti-climactic for the Wookies and the padawans.

Lily slipped through the hulls of the shuttle and the yacht and found a room which was currently empty. After that she returned, and after helping Harry memorize it, Harry popped them all aboard in small groups. The Wookies assigned to Padme's protection detail had been among those who had fought with Harry in the attack on the pirates and knew to keep his power a secret, after all, so seeing it once again didn't matter. Once aboard, stunners, the element of surprise, and Force Shields simply overwhelmed the attackers despite numerous attempts to encircle, get around, or otherwise surprise the invaders.

It still took a while, but eventually they had subdued the entire crew without taking any injuries of their own. After that they loaded up the prisoners, taking them back over to the Lucrehulk. There they found that Padme and the others they had left behind had already begun to make makeshift cages. The sight of the Trandoshans being placed in those cages seemed to be the height of comedy for the Wookies, who couldn't stop laughing and slapping one another on the shoulders as every group was tossed into the cages.

Harry took note of that, sending to Aayla, _"I hadn't realized how much real, honest hatred still exists between the Trandoshans and the Wookies. I thought it was a sort of personal thing between one clan on one side and the other, not that both races truly hated one another like this. But given what you told me earlier, I shouldn't be surprised."_

The rest of the trip to Kashyyyk was peaceful. Coming out of hyperspace into the Kashyyyk system, they were immediately hailed by a squadron of system patrol boats, and a quick exchange occurred between Lisher and the leader of the squadron. The two Lucrehulks were then escorted through the system to high orbit above the Wookies capital city of Rwoookrrorro, and the prisoners were quickly transferred to real holding cells, still unconscious for the most part from the Force stunners.

Master Fay went with them, promising to meet up with the others later. But she wanted to be part of the interrogation process from the get go. The Wookies were, in the main, gentle people, but they also had a truly vicious streak when it came to slavers and people who tried to prey upon them. She had no desire to see actual torture done on these prisoners.

This left the youngsters to head down to Rwoookrrorro on their own for a time, minded only by Lily, who was, of course, not visible to the regular Wookies on the streets. At the same time, Padme was being helped into her formal robes by Eirtae and Sabe. Because of this, she missed the first sight of the city as they were flown down into the atmosphere, a view that nearly mesmerized Harry and the other padawans.

Descending through the trees, an observer could first be excused for not spotting the city. At the topmost reaches of the trees it was practically undetectable, only a few lights here and there along with lookout posts were visible. Then as they began to fly through the massive tree branches of the wroshyr trees, they gradually saw other signs of habitation, until finally they noticed actual buildings, ropes, and then roads carved out of the trees themselves, connecting one tree to another in an interweaving web to create an actual cityscape. Soon after that they were settling down onto the landing pad, which was so wide it could have taken several large freighters at once, built out of one giant wroshyr branch sticking out of the city's edge.

From the pad they were escorted to meet with the king in his palace, though it was unlike any palace that Padme had ever seen before. It was built into an actual portion of one of the giant wroshyr trees that made up the city, and had an admittedly beautiful balcony leading into it, down and around in various ways along the tree's outer trunk. It was further connected by large chains, or what she thought at first were chains, to other nearby trees. It was only when she was close that Padme saw that these were actually vines of immense girth.

The king was an ancient Wookie going gray of fur in some places, but he was as tall as Chewbacca, and he greeted the party warmly on the patio which led into the palace proper, followed by several other Wookies. "Greetings, oh Warrior Queen! Tales of your bravery against the dishonorable and cowardly Trade Federation have come before you, of course. I also was enraged to hear that you were attacked en route to our planet. I cannot apologize enough for not anticipating that."

Padme, garbed in her ultra-formal robes, greeted him just as warmly, forgoing much of the ceremony she had built up in her head when she realized that the Wookies really did not stand on ceremony, even at the highest level of their government. She stepped forward from her party, gesturing with her fingers to her two maids to move to the side and away with the Jedi so that the two monarchs could meet truly face-to-face.

"King Grakchawwaa, tales of your own bravery and skill of hand and mind also reached my ears through the words of your subjects. While the journey here was more exciting than I had hoped, that is no fault of yours, and my welcome thus far has been all anyone could ask for, if not as formal as I had obviously anticipated." Padme then gestured to herself rather patronizingly. "I'd go get changed into something more comfortable, your Majesty, but this takes so long to get on and off. In truth, I'm beginning to see the benefits of having fur."

The king laughed at Padme's little joke, clasping one of his large hands onto hers and shaking so thoroughly that Padme nearly winced, though she kept it off her face easily. From there the two monarchs went inside alone. Over the next few hours Padme officially signed over the Lucrehulk to the Wookie government, receiving in turn the signed trade agreements which would formalize the understanding between their governments. She also talked about extending those agreements, and did what would have taken several days with most Republic governments in about half a day.

Around five in the local evening, Padme came out of the palace smiling happily, wincing slightly as the king had shaken her hand again, somewhat injuring her arm and shoulder. Aayla and the other padawans noticed, and Harry and Kass immediately began to soothe the ache away via the Force, their hands touching her shoulder and wrist.

"They like you," Aayla said while the other two worked, gesturing over to a few Wookies nearby and then back to the king.

"I like them," Padme replied honestly. "I will admit that I haven't actually met many Wookies in person, but all the ones I have seem to be good people to meet. And I really like Malla and Chewie. Rocks of good sense and dependability, the pair of them."

Linking her arm with the Rutian Twi'lek, Padme grabbed Sabe's arm with the other. "Now, let's get me out of this clown outfit and go exploring!"

After Padme had changed into something much more suitable for moving around the city, Chewbacca led the group through a tour of the city and then to his family's home. House was a bit of a misnomer for this edifice, just like calling the king's residence a palace. Again it was built into the solid bark of a wroshyr tree, this one situated near the edge of the city. The actual home encompassed at least six or seven stories up and down from the entrance they were shown to, which Chewie said was for children who had yet to be allowed out of the central-most trees in the city, which were called crèche trees.

Each family in the clan had a small central room to themselves, along with far smaller sleeping quarters which reminded the Jedi of their own small sleeping quarters in the Temple. There was a large balcony several stories up which served as the clan's communal area. Here the padawans were split, boys and girls, with Kass and Aayla joining Padme and her two maids in one of the larger rooms, which they shared with a few females from Chewbacca's family, the Jedi translating the local dialect for the non-Jedi easily.

Chewbacca, on the other hand, put Mak and Harry up in his own room, explaining that he and Malla had yet to carve out their own house. They had not yet decided whether to simply enlarge the clan's domain, or build their own home somewhere else. They weren't in any rush; Wookies could live for a little over four hundred years or so, after all, so there was no need. Indeed, for his people, Chewbacca was the equivalent of Obi-Wan in age and would remain so for the next hundred or so years.

Malla was a few years younger than Chewie, and though she did not share in Chewbacca's wanderlust, she was in no more rush to start building a family than he was. And while she didn't like being in space, Malla had greatly enjoyed her time so far on Naboo. The wide open spaces and the ability to swim without worrying about any danger fascinated her.

That evening the Wookies prepared a large meal for the clan and their guests. It looked as if the entire clan and then some were going to join them for a meal tonight. The guests were told that the meal would include some of the local delicacies with a certain air that made the Force sensing individuals among those guests noticeably wary. Mak nudged Harry in the shoulder. "Are we about to have a bit of another eyeball incident?"

The 'eyeball incident' was what Clan Saa called it when the locals tried to take the Mickey, as Lily put it, out of visitors. They had run into it a few times during their time on the _Explorer_. The first time had involved an eyeball from a kind of octopus-like creature that the locals had tried to trick them into eating by saying it was a local delicacy.

Harry shook his head quietly. "I don't think so, at least not like the eyeball we had way back then." Kass and Mak chuckled, and Aayla laughed, showing off her sharp pointed teeth for a moment. As a Twi'lek she could probably handle anything the Wookies could throw at her. But the others would not be able to.

"Are you going to do something about that?" Padme asked, having overheard them, and now looking worried at the amount of meat and strange vegetables that were being prepared for dinner. She had no wish to offend, but neither did she want to make a fool of herself for the amusement of others, no matter that she doubted it would be done maliciously.

"I'll see what I can do to save your sensitive palate," Harry said with a chuckle, though everyone understood that he would also be doing so to save himself and the others. With that he stood up, moving over to the cooks.

"I'll help," Aayla said, hopping to her own feet and moving after Harry. The two of them joined the crowd of Wookie cooks. The two of them joined the group easily almost seamlessly, with Aayla taking over chopping up some of the meat, which two of the locals pointed out as being for their off-world guests. A few whispered conversations occurred, and Harry realized that it actually wasn't going to be anything truly nasty looking or weird, it was simply going to be stuff that would light their mouths on fire.

Aayla was looking forward to trying the food raw, as it were, but Harry realized that he and the others would probably not benefit from the experience. So he prepared a few delicacies of their own, which would serve to both cool down and cleanse their palates. _This calls for some panna cotta, I think, with a splash of lemon, milk, and vanilla…_

The meal that evening swiftly took on a carnival-like atmosphere. The entire clan did indeed show up, and Padme realized that Chewbacca was greatly respected both inside his clan and by his people as a whole. She heard a term that didn't seem to translate very well even with the padawans' Force powers translating, and resolved to ask him later what it was. It sounded something like explorer to her mind, or trailblazer, but there seemed to be added weight to it that they couldn't quite grasp.

However, at this point Padme had no wish to take up any more of his time. Seeing her bodyguard who she had come to rely on and see as a friend among his family was too important to her. Instead, Padme found herself surrounded by her maids, a few other younger locals, who were eager to hear of Naboo and the other planets she had been on, and the padawans.

At one point Padme absentmindedly took a bite out of one of the local delicacies, then swiftly had to take a bite from one of the Harry's concoctions, a gelatin-like substance that he called panna cotta. The heat from the first bite was quickly deadened by the soothing feeling of the second, and she laughed gaily at the sight of the Wookies who had served it up to her. No one could do astonishment quite like a Wookie, and the Wookies were all astonished that she wasn't screaming for water.

Several of them looked at Harry, who wiggled his fingers. "The Force isn't the only magic I can do," he said smugly, causing Chewbacca who was nearby to howl in laughter and smack him on the shoulder with a blow that nearly sent him flying.

A second later music began to one side of the large balcony, and Aayla was suddenly in front of Harry, her eyes shining and holding out her hands. Harry smiled a smile that set Padme's heart to racing even though she wasn't the recipient of it as she watched the two of them move off.

She watched the two dancing through what was obviously a couple's dance, with Malla and Chewie nearby. The two of them had their arms around one another's waists as they danced, their foreheads pressing into one another, gently kissing and simply holding one another.

A few songs later the music changed to a wilder sort. Several songs into this type of music, Harry was back, bowing grandly to Padme and holding out his hand. "May I have the honor of this dance, milady?"

After glancing over to a smiling Aayla, Padme nodded, hopping to her feet excitedly. "You may indeed, good sir!"

These dances were quite unlike any of the formal dancing Padme had had to learn during her school years to prepare herself for her election as Queen. They were far more primal, the locals howling and whooping, almost as much challenging the encroaching darkness of the night as they were enjoying a party. The offworlders couldn't quite match the locals in some of their dances, but they made up for it with enthusiasm.

Padme enjoyed it immensely, rarely leaving the dance area. At one point she took a gulp of some kind of local brew, wetting her throat before being whirled around by Mak into a group with him, Kass, Sabe, and a few local youngsters. It made her feel a heat throughout her entire body, an almost heady sort, though it wasn't quite alcoholic.

At one point Padme found her back to Harry's front, feeling his hard, muscled chest and waist practically grinding against her rear and back, causing her to feel flushed for an entirely different reason. Yet she didn't move away, grinding back in turn, one hand reaching up behind her to wrap around Harry's neck. Moments later she moved into Aayla's arms, and the two of them danced around, laughing and joking.

While this was going on there were some low key discussions of a different sort going on. Chewbacca found himself pressed to add several more Wookies to his guard detail of the queen, who was a hit with the locals with her bravery, her forthright manner, and how simply likable she was.

Her stance against slavery and corruption also had won her a lot of renown before her arrival, and he found that the king had gently pushed things along in that area so that the queen would always be guarded by Wookies. Later, as they were leaving, Chewie would be pulled aside by the king and told in no uncertain terms that the Republic needed more leaders like young Padme. "Corruption is too soft a word for what has been going on in the Senate. This new chancellor might be trying to push an anti-corruption agenda, but he is not having much luck at all so far. We need to look to build up more alliances that don't go through the Senate. Never forget how lukewarm the Senate response was to our trouble with the Trade Federation overAlaris Prime."

That night, however, such thoughts were far away from Padme. She danced the night away, feeling Aayla's arms around her, their breasts pressing together; feeling Harry's arms around her, solid, sure, and protective; feeling her own friends, dancing and having fun. It was possibly the best night of her young life, and she fell asleep on the patio that evening only to be carried inside with other youngsters. She woke up the next day and found herself between Sabe and Aayla with their arms around her.

Feeling the morning light begin to caress her legs, Padme lay there, thinking. _Why are they so friendly? Why are they so warm and welcoming? If, if they weren't in a relationship and if one or the other was being so friendly, I would know what they were doing. But this is so strange._

She felt Aayla's arms around her and heard Sabe beginning to make that huffing noise she always did when about to wake up. Padme could feel a smile appear on her face as she heard Harry and Chewie's voice from nearby. _Perhaps I am over-thinking things. After all, there is little chance that after this, Harry, Aayla, and I will be able to spend any time together again like this. Perhaps I should simply enjoy their friendship._ And if it became more, well, she could cross that chasm when she came to it.

 **OOOOOOO**

The first problem facing Dooku in his quest to end the threat of the Sith Lord was finding him, of course. Now he had the name of the being, however, and despite being a public figure, Hego Demask was relatively unknown. Dooku began to quickly back track his history, trying to find the Muun's base of operations. He knew that there had to be one somewhere, but the question was where?

Unfortunately, he ran into the problem that Hego had not been seen in public for over a year now, and before that he had stayed out of the public eye to a level that was astonishing for someone in as powerful position as the head of the banking clan. _Then again, that power was based on money after all, not personal charisma or physical holdings,_ Dooku reflected. _Yet another area where the Order's lack of dedicated computer specialists hurt us. The Force can be little aid in terms of following a money trail. Outside of Quinlan, Tholme, and perhaps a handful of others, I doubt any Jedi would even know how to start such a hunt._

However, Dooku was a Jedi Master who had been sent on thousands of missions in his time, from the heights of Core World society to the depths of the worst slums in the known galaxy. He had contacts in nearly the universe over, and some of them included slicers of immense skill. With Padawan Potter and the others away, Dooku too was able to leave the training facility for a time to meet in person with a slicer who owed Dooku an immense favor, having saved the man's wife and his own life on a mission where the man had been framed for a job he hadn't committed.

The discussion with the slicer went incredibly quickly, and Dooku walked away from the meeting with the name of Hego Demask's yacht, which according to what the slicer had discovered had become his home recently. So recently, Dooku made the intuitive leap that Hego had decided to use the yacht as his base going forward after his apprentice had been killed by Mace on Naboo.

The ship in question had been seen in orbit over Coruscant and elsewhere, but it had also disappeared at times, which was worrisome. It meant to Dooku that the Sith Lord might have another permanent base elsewhere. However, with no way to trace the ship's movement beyond a certain level, Dooku would have to hope that the Sith Lord's base could be found after the Muun himself was dead.

With a specific target in place, Dooku returned to the training center, determined to complete Padawan Potter's training to his satisfaction. That this would also allow him to train himself further in the young Jedi's family techniques, as it were, was also a part of his plan going forward.

 **OOOOOOO**

Though Padme and her bodyguards had to turn around only a day after their arrival to head back to Naboo, Harry and the other Jedi planned to stay on Kashyyyk for a few days. She was Queen after all, and duty always called. She boarded the ship the locals had produced for her, their version of a specialized messenger ship, turning back on the gangplank to wave farewell. Harry held up a hand in turn, as did Aayla. "We'll be in touch," Aayla said, a wide smile on her face.

"Believe it!" Padme said with a laugh. "May the Force be with you."

"And with you!" all the Jedi intoned, watching their friend head into the ship.

Master Fay smiled, crossing her arms in her Jedi robes as she stared at the ship as it left. "I still have no more idea why she burns so brightly in the Force as she does when she is not a Jedi, but I can safely say that Padme is one of the good ones." Quinlan, who had arrived that morning, nodded agreement.

Several days later after saying goodbye to Mak and Kass, Harry and his family once more boarded the Lucrehulk, heading back to Serenno. The large ship was even quieter now without Padme and her maids aboard, let alone the Wookies, but the trip was uneventful, thankfully, and once on Serenno they once more settled into life in the training academy. For a time, anyway.

Only a bare week passed since their return before Master Dooku intoned that Harry had reached a level where Dooku was confident that, in his words, "the young man will not embarrass me for the amount of time I have given to his care. I believe, young padawan, that it is time for you to build your own lightsaber at last."

Raising an eyebrow, Fay stared at Dooku, then slowly nodded. She sensed something there, but it wasn't anything to do with Harry's level of skill, so she decided to bring it up with Dooku later. For now she would concentrate on Harry. "Yes, I agree. The connection between lightsaber and Jedi is not one that I have ever felt, but I have long believed that Harry's construction of his lightsaber should be important. Indeed, I think the Light Side of the Force has had a hand in making me see that."

There was more than one raised eyebrow among the other masters at that phrasing, but Fay ignored them as did Dooku. "In that case, we should once more make use of my family's map of known galactic space. Follow me."

Moments later, Fay, Quinlan, the two Padawans, Shaak Ti, Dooku, Giiett, Alecto, and some of the other more interested Masters all stood around the massive hologram which had been passed down in Dooku's family since the Sith had been thrown out of Serenno. They all formed a loose circle around it, with Harry facing the door into the amphitheater like structure, Fay directly across from him, and with Aayla and Quinlan equidistantly across from one another.

Fay stood forward as the hologram appeared in the center of the room, her voice formal and almost rolling in cadence. "In my days as a padawan, padawans would always receive access to maps much like this one, when they are thought to be ready to build their own lightsabers. Most of the time nothing happens, and they are given a choice of the few known planets to have lightsaber crystals, such as Adega or Ilum. Other times, padawans are given crystals as symbols of regard from Masters or Knights."

Aayla smiled over at Master Giiett, holding up one of her lightsabers, flicking the beam on and off. "I found one crystal on Ilum, and Master Giiett gave me the other. He'd found it in the gullet of a lizard."

"I did indeed," the squat Jar'kai user said, smiling in turn at Aayla. She and Zule had been a delight for the Jar'kai user to train, and he had actually wanted to take on Zule as an apprentice, but Glaive had beat him to it while Micah was out on a mission. Alecto was an excellent padawan, and as a Sentinel himself, Micah had even more to teach him then he had the two girls. But in terms of lightsaber training, the two were not very much alike, which hampered that area of Alecto's ongoing training, though Dooku and the other Masters had stepped into that gap here at the training center.

"So how do I do this? Do I just reach out to the Force with the idea of lightsaber crystals in my mind?" Harry asked, stepping forward so he was now actually within the hologram device, staring all around him at the lights of star clusters and at the other Jedi.

"That's essentially it, yes," Fay replied.

Alecto smiled, shaking his head. "I narrowed my choices down from those two planets to one when I was given the choice to try, but that was the only thing that the Force told me. Funnily enough, I know that Mak and Kass found twin crystals, though they didn't find them through the Force until they arrived on Ilum. After they did, however, it was like they were being pulled by a lodestar. The feeling is like you're being called, almost, or it was to me, a sound becoming louder in the direction you need to go."

Many of the other Masters and padawans agreed with that, only the Gand master remaining silent, as was his wont. Fay also didn't say anything. After all, she had never done this ritual herself, only seen it happen when she was younger.

"Okay, I think I have a handle as to what to do now, or at least what to look out for. Feel out for? When it comes to the Force, nomenclature is always weird," Harry said to a chorus of wry chuckles.

He breathed in, centering himself in the Force before raising both of his hands. This was a dramatic gesture that Harry didn't really need, but which did slightly help him concentrate his Force powers, and it seemed to fit the moment as well. And, as he spread his fingers, he sent out his mind into the Force, seeking guidance as to where he should go.

For several minutes the hall was silent as Harry's Force presence reached out. The Masters who had only seen him teach so far, those who didn't know Harry very well, were startled by the amount of power the youth had, his Force presence nearly creating an umbra around him, merging with that of Fay, Aayla and the Force Ghost, in some fashion they could not quite conceptualize.

They watched as Harry's arms first fell back to his sides, then his dominant arm rose, a single finger pointing to a section of the map. The section enlarged, seeming to blink for a moment as it downloaded from a long past version of itself. Then it expanded again and again, blinking each time, going further and further back to past stored versions. Harry's eyes opened, immediately seeking out his master's. "There, master. I will find what I seek there."

"Oh dear…" Master Fay murmured, as she and the other Masters in the room looked at the section of the map so indicated. "That is troublesome; those are the Unknown Territories."

"Unknown now, but they were known at one point," Dooku mused, thinking hard. "That, if I am reading this correctly, is Ruusan. That entire territory has been cut off from the rest of the Republic; thanks to the shift in the nebulae that surrounds it no hyperspace jump is safe. Worse was the damage done to the Ruusan system in the final campaign of the New Sith Wars. I have no idea if there is any way to even reach the planet."

At that the other Masters all nodded, agreeing with Dooku. Even Giiett nodded, though he felt something, a tug of something here, as if the Force was trying to tell him something which he could not quite grasp. To his side, Aayla, Quinlan, and Alecto looked at one another, then back at Harry before looking at the image of the planet, feeling the same gentle, almost missed pull of the Force.

"I, however, note you said `what I seek,' Harry, but you didn't mention your lightsaber crystal by name," Lily said, bringing all the masters' attention to the young padawan who still stood unmoving in the center of the hologram.

"…No mum, I didn't. I think my lightsaber crystal is there, but there's also something else, something I need, no, the Light Side of the Force wants me to do," Harry said, his voice growing with certainty as he continued to speak. "I **need** to go there."

Fay nodded slowly. "I too feel the pull now. It is the same I have felt all my life, the Force moving me as it wills." She looked around keenly, allowing a faint smile to appear on her face. "And I am not alone."

It could have been a question, but it wasn't. It was a certainty, and Alecto, Quinlan, and Aayla all stepped forward, followed by Giiett a moment later. The council member shook his head slightly as the other gathered masters looked at him in surprise. "I haven't felt such a touch in many years, not one so ephemeral yet certain."

"Then I suggest you all start planning how to get there. And we should probably send for another member of the High Council," Dooku cautioned. "One member of the council should always be here given certain lessons being taught here, just to answer questions, if nothing else. I would also tell you to take the Lucrehulk with you."

Fay frowned at that, while Lily nodded. "The Lucrehulk is a far more defensible ship than your yacht, Fay. Sorry. Besides, we could store your yacht in the Lucrehulk easily."

"Yes, its defenses will stand you in good stead. However, the reason you should take it is two-fold. One, it is large enough to house the Hypercom generator we took from the pirates. That is stored here on Serenno, and it could be used to help keep you in contact with the rest of the galaxy, though that will be little help physically."

Dooku winced, stroking at his goatee. "The hyperspace lanes in that area change hour to hour, so it's doubtful any ship could arrive in time to help you even if you needed it, but that brings me to my second reason to use the Lucrehulk: its drives are far more robust than any yacht. The Neimodians used such ships all the time as they were finding their proprietary hyperspace routes. It will survive coming out of hyperspace suddenly far better. Further, the larger ship will be much more pleasant to live on for an extended period of time. Jumping into the unknown as you will be, you'll be lucky to make more than a single light year per jump."

Harry nodded agreement at that point, though the idea of such an emergency exit from hyperspace wasn't very pleasant. After that, the group began to plan for what would they would need and who to contact. Micah called the Order, telling them about this mission in a circuitous way over the Hypercom, while the others began to load up the monstrous ship with supplies and the Hypercom generator. This took them several days, but by the end of that time they were ready, and Master Billaba was on the way to take Micah's place. She would arrive with Knight Vosa, who would take over the lightsaber training duties that Micah was leaving behind, along with Dooku.

The evening that the group was due to leave, Dooku was meditating in his room alone as usual, happy at how events had played out. Harry was ready to continue his lightsaber education on his own, and he and Fay were being called away by the Force, and so would be out of the way, hidden from the backlash of what he was going to do, if there was one.

He came out of his meditation as he felt a presence at his door. Sensing his acquiescence, Master Fay entered, moving to kneel down across from where Dooku was already sitting, his legs crossed under him.

For a moment the two of them were silent, examining one another, then Master Fay spoke, her voice soft, but her words blunt. "You are troubled by something, something that has been eating at you for months now. I think it has something to do with the Dark Side user or users that are still out there, but your control is such that even that is more guesswork than I am used to. I would applaud you for that level of control if I was not so concerned."

Master Dooku looked calmly at the ageless Master Fay, feeling none of the niggling bit of jealousy at that ageless nature that he had upon meeting her in person for the first time, and a few times after. But neither did he have any wish to bare his soul to the ancient woman. _This is my burden, my destiny, no one else's._ "I thank you for your concern, but I am fine. I am disturbed, and getting more so by the lack of progress of the search for the Dark Side user, but that should not surprise you. Indeed, I will be turning over the training facility to Master Giiett and Knight Ti. She is a master in all but name at this point, and an excellent lightsaber instructor, as is Giiett. My absence will not be missed, and I feel the Force is telling me I am needed on this hunt."

Frowning now, Fay looked at Dooku unblinking for a moment. "I can tell there is more to this than that, but I would say you are underselling your presence here. I would wish for the Force to be with you, but if it is already telling you that, then it is telling you more than it has me about this specific issue. Just make certain it is the Force you are hearing and not the voice of your own hubris, Master Dooku. Also, remember that if anything were to happen to you, you would be sorely missed."

"Thank you for the word of warning and the compliment, Master Fay," Dooku said, allowing a faint smile to appear on his face. "I will take them to heart, I assure you."

The next day Dooku watched as Master Fay and the young padawan whose presence had already changed the Order so much took the shuttle up to the Lucrehulk, whose name the two padawans were apparently arguing over at the moment. The thought nearly made him chuckle, but his mind was already on other things. _I am sorry, Master Fay, but the Force can often be cruel. While I would be happy to remain here, to see you and young Harry return, this is my burden, my penitence. I may die on this mission; in fact, it is almost certain. But I will join the Force gladly if in so doing I can end this threat to the universe once and for all._

 _But that does not mean I cannot plan for what will occur after I am gone._ With that thought Dooku returned to his room and sent for his family's dictation droid. He had a few legal documents to ready…

Dooku remained on Serenno for several days after Fay and her group had left, preparing for his own departure. Since it was not the first time he had done this, no one made any comment, not even the newly arrived Depa Billaba. And with the arrival of Knight Vosa, a Jedi Knight of some repute with a lightsaber, it wasn't as if Master Dooku's presence was required any longer.

Yet some kind of feeling, not quite enough to tell her that it came from the Force, told Depa, standing by the yacht that Dooku had commissioned for this trip, that this would be the last time she saw Master Dooku alive. "May the Force be with you, Master Dooku," she said formally, clasping the tall man's hand. "And whatever you are doing, please be careful?" she asked, more of a hint of warning in her voice. But she felt she could not question the older Master more than that.

"I cannot promise to be careful," Dooku said softly, making no mention of his mission. "I can only promise that I will be successful."

Depa stared at him for a moment, but her Force senses could tell her nothing about what Dooku planned, and in the end she sighed, nodded, and released the other Master's arm. She was still there, watching the stars, as Dooku's yacht went to hyperspace.

 **OOOOOOO**

"That was a masterful stroke, Sidious, even if it does look to be taking you away from Coruscant for a few days. You made Senator Gdrilla look like a fool, and thus his entire Separate Legislative branch movement,"

Plagueis said, giving a tiny, somewhat sardonic handclasp as he stared through the communications screen to his fellow Sith. The movements Sidious had been making of late in the Senate had made the Muun Sith realize how much the human male from Naboo meant to the Great Plan every time he looked at them. Plagueis had hoped that they would become true equals at this moment, when the Great Plan began to enter its final stages, but it was excellent to see that such was indeed the case.

"Thank you, master. I do admit that Gdrilla surprised me by asking me to come to Alsaka, but I can use this to further our hold in the Core Worlds. Alsaka might once have been a rival to Coruscant, but those days are millennia in the past, and it is time they learn who their masters are, even if the reins will need to remain hidden from most for now," Sidious said, allowing a smile to cross his face for a moment. "I have already given Sate Pestage and my other aides their orders for while I am away."

"Indeed. You leave tomorrow, correct?" When Sidious nodded, Plagueis went on. "I will remain here until you return. The few days away will not matter overmuch to my current experiments. However, there are a few I would like you to see, so schedule your return in such a way that you can get away for a few days."

"I look forward to it, master," Sidious replied. "However, I am afraid I must sign off here. I need to be back and visible in my office within thirty minutes."

Plagueis nodded, immediately cutting the connection, and Sidious turned away, moving over to once more don his Chancellor robes. As he did, Sidious raised a hand to his face, feeling the actual, real smile there for a moment. _Deluded fool, to be so surpassed by your apprentice and never even realizing it! You will die, and I alone will control the Veil and the Sith for all time!_

While a droid put the finishing touches on his ensemble, Sidious wondered if he should try to take some precautions, just to make certain that Dooku was able to truly do away with his former teacher. Plagueis was, after all, an incredible duelist, and master of many more esoteric combat arts. Dooku, for all his skill, might well be overwhelmed by him. _And who knows what information Plagueis's ship contains. I need to be certain it too is destroyed._

With that thought, he decided to send a little computer virus with that evening's data package. The two Sith had gotten into the habit of exchanging information like that in packets, since they could so rarely interact in real time together given Sidious's busy schedule. The virus would activate after a set amount of time and erase all of the rest of the ship's computers in time, including the operating system, save for the hyperspace computer. The ship would then act on a predetermined hyperspace jump to take the ship directly into the Coruscant System's sun. _No matter who wins this battle, I will be the one truly victorious!_

 **OOOOOOO**

Count Dooku's small yacht came out of hyperspace about as close to Coruscant as he could manage, lost in the truly monstrous amount of space traffic that continually filled the space around Coruscant. The planet's continuous need for food and other resources meant that more ships came and went on a daily basis here than in any other system in the Republic, even the other Core Worlds.

So it was very easy for Dooku's small ship to disappear in the multitude. Still, that was all to the good at the moment; Dooku had no desire for this mission to be interrupted by friend or stranger alike. This was why he was already wrapped in the best Force Stealth he could manage, so that other Force users, both his target and his fellow Jedi, would not be aware of his presence.

Searching the stationary ships scattered like tiny dots around the planet-turned-city, Dooku found the target vessel, and slowly began to make his way over to it. _Odd. Considering it is the ship of a Sith, you would think there would be something off about it, something that made it stick out, but then again, that would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it?_ Despite the upcoming encounter, Dooku had to smile at the whimsical thought.

It took Dooku a while to clandestinely move his ship through the crowd of ships so as to not arouse suspicion in his target. When he was close enough, Dooku, dressed in a spacesuit, exited his ship, using a brief Force push to send himself through space towards his target. An instant later he touched down without a sound onto the surface of the far larger yacht, which was almost the size of a small luxury liner rather than a personal yacht. There he was able to look through a small porthole and take a peek inside.

A moment later, he concentrated, imagining himself inside the airlock. An instant later he was inside, opening the inner door and striding into the ship, shaking his head for a brief second as he pulled off his spacesuit. _Teleporting like that truly does take it out of you, but it had to be done. I could have wished for more time training in it, but I had to strike before Demask could disappear once more._

Walking forward, he was unsurprised to see the lights coming on red around him as he walked into a large area, which must at one point have been the central sitting area for the liner, or perhaps a casino before the ship was refitted for personal use. He was also unsurprised to see his target waiting for him.

The instant that Plagueis had felt the splash of Force power, he knew that at least one Jedi, perhaps more, had somehow found him. Knowing that, Plagueis had moved into the only area of the ship that was wide enough to let him use his Force abilities to the best advantage; despite his mastery of the lightsaber, Plagueis preferred to use his other Force abilities, many of which worked best at a certain distance. When he saw Dooku, however, he had to wonder if Master Fay had sensed him in some fashion, or if Sidious had betrayed him for some reason. _Still, only one Jedi? The arrogance!_

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Master Dooku? And the last time I checked, invading a private ship like this without a warrant was against the law," Plagueis asked dryly, his bald, slightly-bullet shaped head gleaming in the red lights of the room he had idly thought at one point to change into a trophy room. But Plagueis had always been too busy to bother with such things, so while the original furniture and decorations had been removed, they had not been replaced with more than a few large urns in the corridor containing the ashes of past Sith Lords. The urns seemed to almost soak in the limited lighting of the room, but that was deliberate. Like his apprentice, Darth Plagueis always felt calmer when surrounded by darkness.

"I believe we both know why I am here, Hego Demask, if that is your real name," Dooku replied coldly. "I wonder, is the arrogance of your attempts to sway me against the Senate and fanning my interest in the Sith part of the Sith mindset, or just your own?"

"Ah, so forthright, so righteous!" Plagueis snarled, dropping all pretense. "If you know that much, then why come here alone? Or is that a sign of your own arrogance?"

"No, it is a sign of my guilt. I should have realized the danger you were trying to steer me into, should have spotted you for what you were. But it took the death of your apprentice to warn me and the Order that the Sith were still around, still skulking in the shadows. After that, only my own memories and the Force could lead me to you, such were the illusions and lies you have surrounded yourself with," Dooku replied, activating his lightsaber. It glowed green in the ambient red of the room. "I doubt I truly have grasped the depth of your scheme even now, but the invasion of Naboo and sending your apprentice to attack my former padawan there was a step too far."

Plagueis activated his own lightsaber but made no other movement, the red-bladed lightsaber hanging loosely at his side. "Yes, you Jedi would know all about shadows, wouldn't you? You too hide your true selves behind your Oaths, behind your indoctrination, never comprehending that you have never understood the true power of the Force. Only those who have known the Dark Side can know that." The Sith Lord smiled, the expression almost hideously false on his face. "It is not too late, Dooku. Join me, learn the true power of the Dark Side, and you will be far more powerful than the Order could ever allow you to be."

Dooku chuckled quietly, remembering two young padawans, the powers and abilities young Potter and his Force Ghost mother had shared, and the way he had enjoyed watching the youngsters grow, knowing that as they did, so too would the Order change and evolve. "You in turn have no idea of the power of the Light Side of the Force." Shaking that thought out of his head, Dooku took a single step forward, his lightsaber coming up into a defensive position from Makashi which he could turn into an attack easily. "Hego Demask, Lord of the Sith, you are under arrest for crimes against the Republic. Come quietly, or I will be required to use lethal force."

Perhaps an onlooker might have thought the wordplay amusing, but Plagueis had rarely if ever felt anything was amusing ever since becoming a true Sith. Now he simply snarled and raised his hand, Force Lightning lashing out to attack Dooku. "I am Darth Plagueis, fool, and you will regret your arrogance!"

With that the battle was joined. Dooku blocked the Lightning with a Force Shield, before reaching over and grabbing at one of the giant urns, hurling it at Plagueis to disrupt his assault. The Sith Lord blocked Dooku's Force Grab with his own Push, but did disrupt his Sith Lightning assault to do so. This allowed Dooku to rush forward in an attempt to close the distance, launching his own long range attack, a slightly less powerful version of the exploding technique Harry had used against him a time or two in their spars.

As Dooku had known, however, the technique simply caused too large a splash in the Force to take a true master of the Force by surprise. Plagueis leaped away, his eyes widening as he saw the floor he had been standing exploding in metal shards. "So, the Jedi truly have learned new tricks! That will be important after I have killed you! The Great Plan will succeed, Dooku; you could no more stop it than a supernova!"

"I can stop you, and if you cut off the head, the body dies!" Dooku retorted, closing quickly.

To his surprise, however, the Sith Lord made no effort to get away, his own lightsaber coming up to block. The two danced around one another and through the room, lightsabers smashing into one another as they probed one another's defenses.

Dooku's Makashi form was perfect, taken to a level no other living Jedi could match, matching his opponent's speed advantage, which was large, with precision and a level of Force Precognition that Plagueis had never seen before. In reply Plagueis used a variant of Ataru and Niman combined, continually attempting to use Force powers in conjunction with his attacks, which pushed Dooku to the brink.

At the same time, he was also concentrating, trying to use his Force powers to his advantage. Yet here, Plagueis ran into several problems. His attempts at Force Crush were blocked, his attempt to reach inside Dooku and manipulate the Force inside his body likewise came to nothing. He then decided to use Force Illusions to fool his opponent's senses. He tried several types, from simply trying to create an image of himself a single step from his actual position, to a sound from behind Dooku.

None of them worked; the Jedi was able to see through them all and even once tried to lay a small trap for Plagueis in return, acting as if he had fallen for an illusion only to attack Plagueis as he tried to take advantage of this weakness. Plagueis fell back, only protecting himself at the last minute with a blast of Force Lightning that forced Dooku into the defense, using his lightsaber to absorb the lightning. They were so close together that both of them suffered from the backlash of the lightning, and Plagueis howled, creating a blast of sonic power that hurled Dooku away.

More Sith Lightning lashed out, but Dooku raised his Force Shield, absorbing the lightning and then suddenly popped out of existence! Plagueis whirled, his Force Precognition screaming at him and was just barely able to block the lightsaber coming for his side. _What?! Is that how he boarded my ship, teleportation!?_ Now on the back foot, Plagueis desperately pushed his Force powers into his body to a level he would never do usually, taking Dooku's best attacks head on and turning them aside to attack in turn.

For several moments both combatants relied solely on their lightsabers as their Force Precognition skills probed and strove against one another, like two master chess players looking for the opening in their opponent's game plan, or two Aikido masters striving against one another in an effort to unbalance their enemy. Plagueis tried to use Dun Moch, but it failed. He tried to open the distance once more, but Dooku kept the battle close, anticipating his moves, every attempt at Force Grab either on Dooku or the surroundings blocked or redirected. He tried to use another Force Bellow, but Dooku simply backed away, replying with the same odd explosive technique Plagueis had never seen before. The explosion went off so close the shrapnel nearly caught the Sith Lord, slicing him here and there. Plagueis attempted Sith Lightning, but Dooku's Force Shield blocked it, and Plagueis nearly fell as a moment of disorientation hit him along with a red beam, but he shook it off before Dooku could capitalize.

By this point, however, Dooku was feeling it. Two teleportations had drained him, but so was his age, forcing him to use the Force to aide his physical skills to a high degree. That and Force Precognition was taking so much of his attention that he couldn't use any more to conjure up further Force assaults of his own. He was able to anticipate and block his opponent's continued attempts to use other Force powers, but that quickly became all he could do.

In short, he could feel his body giving out on him, while his enemy was still going strong, and Plagueis could feel it too, the battle slowly turning against the human Jedi Master. _But then, I knew I would not live through this…_

When the opening came, it was sudden and small, as it always was between two masters. Dooku's footwork seemed to fail him for just a brief second as he danced back over the shattered floor. The next instant Plagueis's red blade slipped past Dooku's green to take him right above the ankle, sending him crashing to the side as it sliced off his foot. The next second Plagueis' lightsaber came back into a thrust, flashing through Dooku's now broken defenses and burning straight through his chest, barely missing his heart. When Plagueis pulled his lightsaber back out, it left a gaping, smoking hole straight through Dooku's body.

Plagueis stood over his opponent's body, shaking his head mock-sadly. "Pity, Dooku. You would have been an asset to the Great Plan. Now you will simply die alone, with no one, not even the Order, realizing what has occurred."

"Did, did you think that I would have come here without leaving behind clues?" Dooku gasped, while using the Force to cut off the pain receptors in his body from his brain. He could feel the Force opening up its arms to him, beckoning, but Dooku refused to listen. _Not yet, not just yet…_ Even as the Force reached for him, Dooku reached out subtly with the Force, grabbing up a lot of the debris from the fight.

Plagueis felt that, but didn't respond to it just yet. Instead he glared down at his dying opponent. "What did you do!?"

"I, *cough*, I left copies of my findings about *cough*, you, my suspicions, and *cough* anything else I could discover, ready to go out after a *cough* certain amount of time has passed without my, my input," Dooku replied honestly, though that wasn't all he had done. The rest he would sooner be tortured to death than share with the Sith standing above him. Which, Dooku acknowledged with a certain amount of gallows humor, was exactly what was about to occur. The Force was still there, reaching out, beckoning him into its embrace. _Not yet, not yet…_

Plagueis narrowed, his wide mouth twisting into a vicious sneer, struggling with a megalomaniacal urge to tell Dooku how badly he had underestimated the Sith Order. That even if he had succeeded here, the Sith would still have continued on. But he fought that feeling back easily, instead raising a hand. "I think that a slow death is not quite enough. Let us see what we can do to also make it agonizing!" Force Lightning crackled around his fingers and he gestured downward, lashing Dooku's fallen body.

As he did, his stance fell, becoming completely defenseless, and even as Dooku's body arched and twisted under the touch of Demask's Sith Lightning, Dooku struck back. The tiny wave of Force changed into a flood as he poured out all of his remaining concentration and power, all of his scant remaining life, into one last trick. Busy with torturing Dooku, Plagueis didn't even notice, having believed that Dooku didn't have it in him to speed up the bits of debris his Force Grab had been touching earlier enough for them to be truly dangerous.

And he was right; Dooku could not have sped up the random pieces of the nearby urn his Force grab had found, flailing out almost blindly as he had been. But one didn't have to throw a razor sharp spear as hard as you had a random bit of clay.

Before Plagueis could realize his mistake, dozens of thin spears impacted his body stabbing him through from the back and side. Even that might not have been enough to overcome him, however; Plagueis had mastered Force healing and his body to such a degree that he could heal from nearly everything. The pain from that and the sudden reversal, however, made his Force Lightning cut out. And then Dooku grabbed up his still blazing lightsaber and cut with all the power remaining to his seared, ruined body. Then he fell back, as Plagueis's now sundered body fell limply to either side of him.

As death started to cloud his vision, Dooku smiled, letting his eyes close for the last time as he felt the Force welcome him at last. _I'm ready now…_

 **OOOOOOO**

Sidious felt it, Felt the Force changing, Felt the Veil's power settle down onto his shoulders. He felt his teacher's death, and knew, knew he alone ruled the Dark Side, as it should always be. Sitting alone in his hidden throne room he laughed quietly, feeling the darkness all around him, hiding him from his enemies, empowering him, and knew that he had taken yet another step towards his destiny. _The Jedi will fall, and I will reign as master of the Force for eternity!_

 **OOOOOOO**

Deep in the Temple Yoda looked up from where he had been teaching Wulo, feeling a great, all-encompassing sadness settle down on his aged, weary bones. At the same moment the Force everywhere shifted in such a subtle yet powerful manner that many Jedi felt it, even if they couldn't understand what had occurred.

When the Chironian asked him what was wrong, Yoda released a sigh that contained in it all the sadness of a lifetime spent living on as those he knew died around him. "A great Jedi, passed he has. One with the Force is Master Dooku. Yet alone, he did not pass; shifted the Force has. Hope, perhaps, returned it might have, for the Force."

 **End Chapter**

* * *

… I could honestly have named this chapter something else, but the ghost of Sir Christopher Lee came and threatened to haunt me for the rest of my life. And given events in the chapter, well…

Anyway, Harry and Aayla have finished their training/teaching time, and are now once more removed from the Galactic stage for a time, so that canon events can continue with only some small changes going forward, and more importantly I can start speeding up time, even more than I did in this chapter.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, both the action and the romance and world building. Be on the lookout for November's poll late tonight, and as always please review.


	8. Chapter 8

I'm not a sell-out nor do I think the good guys should let children solve all their problems.

As many of my readers already know, I announced back in January that Magic would the SW crossover I would update in February. From now on the SW crossover will be a Pat R On only poll. If you wish to influence this choice, I urge you to go and sign up. You'll have a louder voice in what stories I update and access to a series of omakes from this fic where I have Harry, Aayla and Lily be transported back to Hogwarts.

ON that note, several reviewers have asked if I intend to go back to Earth. The answer is no. The mechanics of that would be too unwieldy to make use of in the real story.

 **This is going to also be a large chapter - ATP size-since it's been so long since the last time I updated this story.**

I would like to thank Kathryn518 and Michael for their help with this chapter. Kathryn518 pointed out a few fundamental flow issues, and that I was trying a little too hard to railroad a character's canon attitude into him as he is in this fic, which I changed. And Michael, my small mistakes guy, got this back to me in under a week. Given the size of the chapter, that was an amazing feat, and I hope you all join me in thanking him for his work.

* * *

 **Chapter 8 Changing Tides**

Komari stepped into her former Master's study, gathering her hard won Jedi serenity around her with more difficulty than she had needed ever since Master Fay and Master Unduli had put her back together, body and soul. She knew both would remonstrate with her for the very idea, but she owed the two of them far more than she could ever repay, just as she owed Master Dooku for coming for her in the first place when she had turned due to the tortures of the Bando Gora. Dooku had saved her body and given her a chance to rejoin the Light. Fay had healed her body, and, between her and Unduli, they had helped Komari save her soul. Those thoughts were foremost in her mind now as she entered the room where she knew Master Dooku had left his last will and testament.

It had been two days since Master Yoda had informed her and the others who were connected to Master Dooku in some fashion of his death. Of course, the ancient Grandmaster hadn't outright stated how Master Dooku had died, as he had no idea. All they knew was that, in Yoda's words, "A great light, extinguished it has been. A great darkness, gone too now. Burned each other out, they did."

Of course, knowing her Master, Komari had been able to put that together quickly enough. He had gone after some Dark Side user. Imagine her surprise when Master Yoda had informed her that the High Council actually felt that the Sith, or at least something called the Brotherhood of the Sith, which she had never heard of, might still be out there.

 _It would be just like my Master to go after him on his own, and just like most Jedi to assume that if you remove the head, the body will die. I could have told him after my experiences with the Bando Gora that that was not the case, but no one asked me… And now I am both stalling and devolving into snark in a manner that is unbefitting of a Jedi. Come, Komari Vosa, remember what Master Dooku would say: fearing the unknown is worse than fearing reality, but both fears must be met and overcome._

With a deep cleansing breath, Komari banished such thoughts and stepped into Master Dooku's study. As she did, Komari remembered the recording her master had left her to tell her to come to his study in the event of his death. It had been mailed to her directly by the Dooku house lawyer, the lawyer informing her that they had not found a will for him yet, but that they had found those instructions, and they had been dutifully observed and found to have been written by Master Dooku. As a Jedi, of course, his being of sound mind did not come into it.

Inside his study, Komari moved around, reaching out with the Force to find the thing that she was here to find. It was a somewhat tough skill to learn, and the more people in an area the harder it became, but it worked very well on small enclosed spaces and on mechanical items.

Seconds later a small hidden compartment in his desk, which you had to be sitting at in the chair at a proper angle to open, yielded up its secrets. The setup wasn't very high tech, but Komari though that it was somewhat ingenious in how well it was hidden. From the compartment she pulled out not one, but three little data chips.

The one on top of the small pile had a single K written out on it. the next was unlabeled, but Komari could tell it was a specially prepared security chip, one which could not only slag itself but any system it was connected to if the individual who tried to use it didn't input the correct code. The last was a simple chip like the first, though it too was unlabeled.

 _So, the order in which I view these is laid out for me. Very well, Master, though I find it most droll that you are trying to control things like this from beyond the grave,_ Komari thought whimsically. Still sitting at her former master's desk, she inserted the disk with the K on it into the desk's reader.

Instantly a full body hologram of Master Dooku, his face set into grave lines, one hand resting on his lightsaber hilt as he stared into the pickup. "I, Master Dooku, being of sound mind and body, do prepare this last will and testament, to be enacted upon the moment of my death for my estate and all items therein. This should be read by my last padawan."

The image's lips quirked. "Well, my last full time padawan, at any rate, if not my last student: Knight Komari Vosa. If Knight Vosa is reading this, please prove your identity by entering in a code now. A single word that can describe our first mission together. You have two minutes to do so before this disk erases itself."

Komari sighed, but nodded. No one but she among those now living knew that the first mission she and Master Dooku had done together actually hadn't been one that had been put on the books of the Order. It'd been a simple enough mission, simply finding a thief that had begun to target elderly men and women on the second level of Coruscant. Dooku had turned it into a training exercise for her: how to find and winnow through the minds of multiple types of sentients in order to find someone who was feeling guilty, and connecting that guilt to the crime that they were investigating.

Thinking of a single word that could be used to describe the mission threw her for a brief moment, but then she remembered the name of the culprit. Typing it in quickly, she watched as the tiny timer disappeared from the screen and her master's image returned.

When he spoke, however, the air of whimsy was gone, and he had quickly gotten down to business. "Komari, I have made many mistakes in my lifetime. Mistakes with you, mistakes with Qui-Gon, mistakes in my own life and my own training. Yet despite everything, I have to say that perhaps my worst mistake was not involved in the training of you or Master Qui-Gon, but that in my own thirst for knowledge I looked to dark places. As you well know after the Mandalore debacle I had become thoroughly fed up and disappointed by the lack of growth in the Order,. The corruption within the Senate, and how closely we were tied to them also repulsed me."

The image seemed to sigh. "What you do not know is that after your disappearance and before we learned you were still alive, I went even further. I thought if perhaps the Sith, or some small variant of them, came back, they would push the Order to grow again, to break the cycle of stagnation that the Order has been in since the end of the New Sith Wars."

Dooku's image laughed now, a wry, self-deprecating tone that jarred sharply with everything Komari had seen of the man in life. "I was wrong about that, and I should have trusted the Force. The Force, the Light Side, brought us Lily and Harry and the changes their presence has created in the Order. You now of what I speak."

Komari barely had a moment to nod agreement with that, her mind somewhat reeling from the idea that her Master had looked for the Sith so long ago and the way he had admitted to his faults like this. He had apologized and admitted to making mistakes with her and Qui-Gon, but that was a far cry from this.

But then the message continued. "I was unsuccessful in finding the Sith, obviously, and yet, and yet when I heard from Master Giiett that the Order felt the Dark Side user which killed Qui-Gon could be a Sith, I felt somehow that the Force was telling me something, that the Force was telling me that this threat was someone I knew. I began to meditate on it, searching my memory for clues using the organizational method Lily has been teaching us here on my estates. I found it. I found the individual who had tried to steer me towards some Sith practices, and then I began to research them. The head of the Banking Clan, Hego Damask. With that knowledge, I decided to go after him on my own.

"If you're reading this, I hope that at least I have taken him with me. But if not, I urge the Order to investigate the Banking Clan very, very closely. On the disk below this one you will find everything I was able to discover through both the Force and certain illegal means. There is nothing which would hold up in a court of law, but some of it is worrisome enough to follow up on."

For a moment Dooku sighed, looking every inch his age, where before he had been projecting an aura of weathered strength. "I hope I succeed. But if I do not, I wish to leave the universe a better place than it was before my death. I want you, Komari, to keep the training center going. This is my earnest request to you as your former master. My House's resources will answer to you for now. But the training center is my most important request of you."

Komari breathed a slight sigh of relief. So this was only going to be a temporary thing; that was good. Komari had no desire to be tied down to Master Dooku's estates. For one thing, it smacked too much of putting worth on material things to her, and for another, many of the Order were still too leery of her for her to want to add another way to stand out. _So I'm named as the family manager of the family's holdings, but not the actual heir. That makes sense. And I can bet who he did name as the heir._

Master Dooku continued on, telling Komari about the powers she could wield as manager and the things she couldn't do, which were far more numerous. "As I said at the beginning of this message, I have made many mistakes in my lifetime," Dooku said after winding down. "I urge you to learn from them. Learn from them, but walk your own path. If that path leads you to being the kind of Jedi that the Order wishes you to be, I will respect that. But if it does not, I will respect that too. Think for yourself; live for yourself. Trust in the Force and do not give into the Dark again. That is all I ask my former padawan, my proud Knight. May the Force be with you and with the Order." With that the image disappeared, and a moment later it began to repeat.

Komari leaned back, trying to analyze what she was feeling at this point. There was grief there, certainly, but also a strange kind of relief, or perhaps vindication. She knew that Master Dooku had gone out the way he would have wanted, lightsaber in hand. And given what Master Yoda had said, he had indeed taken his target with them.

She was a little concerned about having been left in charge of his family's holdings, but that concern was tempered by how little as manager she could do unless those holdings began to see significant downturns in their fortune. _That shouldn't happen,_ she thought, thinking about what little she knew about Master Dooku's family's holdings. _And it says that the rest of the will is going to come into effect once certain conditions are met, and that I would know what they are. Hah! That too is obvious, and I can think of no one better to look after those. Still, it will be interesting to see how the Council reacts. It is rather obvious to anyone who knows of their connection in the first place, after all._

But the training center and the mansion were hers now. That was interesting, and it filled Komari with a sense of purpose. Further, she felt the touch of the Force on her. For the first time in years it was unequivocal and certain: this was what the Force wanted from her. _So be it. This is my new charge, and one I will prove worthy of,_ Komari thought, standing and taking the three data chips as she left the room and locked it behind her.

She moved to work through the mansion to Master Dooku's personal Hypercom array. Every one of the counts who ruled Serenno had one of these, and they did not feed into the central one on the planet unlike most such systems. Instead they allowed the user to connect directly to the Hypernet.

Thus, a moment after sitting down, she was looking into the wizened face of Grand Master Yoda. He looked even more aged than the last time she had seen him. The death of Master Dooku had come to him first and had obviously hit him hard.

"News you have," Master Yoda said, his eyes closed at first before he opened them to lock eyes with her through the hologram. "Report you have to give?"

Komari quickly explained what she had found, showing Master Yoda the data crystals in the pickup. She finished, asking, "Is this legal, Master?" She would still follow her former master's wishes regardless, but it was important to know at the outset what kind of opposition she would face.

"Illegal it is not," Master Yoda said after a moment's reflection, his words not giving anything away. "Outside of military items, the Jedi ownership of things, never been made illegal in the Republic or the Order. Not actually made his heir: not enough there for the Order or the Senate to concern ourselves. Of Jedi stepping in to manage estates, precedent there has been before this."

Indeed Yoda was actually understating things. Jedi were routinely called in to mentor or watch over young heirs in many systems. The Green Jedi of Corellia took this further, acting in the manner Komari would be for the Dooku estate if requested to. This tied them closer to the Corellian government, far more than the Jedi Order as a whole was happy about, and also smacked too much of being connected to material things. But so long as they didn't own military systems or infrastructure, the Order was prepared to look the other way rather than to push the Green Jedi into breaking off entirely from the Order, as they had threatened to do numerous times in the past thousand years.

"Master, if you allow me to accept this appointment, I will act as I feel Master Dooku would in terms of the training center and his holdings," Komari said. "And you know exactly who he might have named as his real heir."

"I do," Yoda said, looked at that second data disk. "Looked at that, have you?"

Komari shook her head.

"Do not then. Cross that bridge we will when forced to."

Komari nodded to that, more than willing to leave that particular basket of snakes in Master Yoda's capable hands. "I also have the security disk, which explains how Master Dooku came to believe the head of the Banking Clan was the Sith. Should I upload it?"

Yoda quickly shook his head. "No. Still on the planet, is Master Bilaba?"

"Yes, Master Yoda. She seems to have learned the Shield technique very well, and her retraining with her lightsaber is going well. In her case it is more disuse of her lightsaber than a weakness in her personal style."

"Give the disk containing Dooku's findings to her you will. Inform her she is to come back to Coruscant you will immediately after finished talking we have," Yoda ordered.

"I will do so, Master," Komari said, feeling very gratified that Yoda was taking this so seriously.

"Well are you?" Yoda asked abruptly, looking at Komari with shrewd eyes through the pickup. Despite the distance between them, Komari got the impression that Yoda could sense a lot more about her than she could about him.

 _Though I probably shouldn't be surprised by that,_ she thought sardonically. _A Jedi pushing over a thousand years should have a broader set of tricks than me._

"I am well, Master," she said aloud. "I wish that Master Dooku had confided in me his suspicions before going off on this quest of his, but if he had, I do not think he would've been Master Dooku. Headstrong, certain to the point of arrogance in his own skills and beliefs, and a way with the lightsaber and the Force: that was Master Dooku in a nutshell.

"He was not perfect, but none of us are, and despite his many faults I will remember him as a great man. I will remember his lessons, his teachings, and his messages to me, and I will strive to be worth his trust."

"Greatest student he was. Strongest he was. Wisest. Hrhrhrm. Best he was. My greatest achievement he was," Yoda said, and it was as if Komari's words had acted like a balm to him as Dooku's last words had been to her. "Do well I know you will in your new position. A title, perhaps, we will come up with for you in the future. For now, may the Force be with you."

"And with you, Master Yoda," Komari said, holding upper hand formally in salute before ending the communication.

 **OOOOOOO**

Yoda looked across the now dead hologram projector towards Master Ranicisis, while around them the rest of the High Council currently present on Coruscant either waited for them to speak or worked on their dataslates, looking up what they could about the head of the Banking Clan, his ship, and where it was at present. This was a sharp contrast to how the High Council usually ran their meetings, but many things had changed since Ranicisis had taken over and the threat of the Dark Side had showed itself.

Waiting for the others to discern what they could, Ranicisis began by talking about the rest of what Komari mentioned. "The training center: yes, I fully agree with allowing Komari to act as head of the training center. While she might be a Knight, there are few Masters who could face her in a lightsaber duel, and she has some knowledge of the new techniques as well. But as head of the Dooku house? That sets a bad precedent. Not even Dooku did much on the business side of things, though he had retired formally from the Order."

"How?" Yoda asked, knowing the other was merely playing the devil's advocate **.** "Precedent there has been for Jedi to act…"

"The Green Jedi are one thing, the Order as a whole is another, and you well know it, Master Yoda," Master Ranicisis interrupted him brusquely, concern on his ancient face even as the discourtesy made some of the other council members frown. "This will be seen as both favoritism within the Order and as a dangerous precedent for the Order to be going back to the old ways of the Jedi Lords if it gets out to the Senate as a whole. We will need to head that concern off."

"Make a new rule, perhaps?" Yoda asked, showing no reaction to the other Master's rudeness. The Thisspassian species became more brusque and abrupt in conversation when they became concerned about something. "Only Jedi can leave things to other Jedi?"

"Exactly. Admit that this, the idea of one Jedi leaving another property, is a hole in the no attachments rule we had not anticipated. It will make us look reasonable and proactive within the Order and without once this gets out to the Republic Senate at large, if it does. How likely is that?" Ranicisis asked, looking over at the political specialists.

"Not very actually," Master Gallia replied, shaking her head. "Serenno has always gone its own way as much as it could possibly get away with, and the Senate really doesn't have much business or political interest there. There might be some questions from people who realize that Master Dooku has been missing for too long in the future, but if we can keep that quiet for a while, we can keep Komari acting in his stead quiet as well. As for the long term…"

"Let us leave that for now," Ranicisis ordered, steepling his long fingers in a triangle in front of him as he looked from face to face. "The issue with who Master Dooku has named as heir is one we will need to address, but only once it has actually occurred, which could be years in the future. We need to concentrate on the real meat of the matter. Master Dooku is dead, and we are agreed that he probably took this Dark Side user with him?"

"A possible Sith," Yoda said, shaking his head with a sigh. "Felt a shift, I did, but the Veil, still in place it is."

"Dissipating slightly, perhaps," said Yaddle. "But the future, still clouded it is. Hope for balance returned, but not certain. Not yet…"

"Why?" asked Master Tiin, his voice gruff. He was never one for sneaking around the issue. "If this Sith or this leader of a new Brotherhood of the Sith is dead, then surely the Veil will dissipate if we wait."

"Common misconception there is. Dark Side always there is, just like the Light. The Veil, retain its power it does, even if its creator, dead he is," Yoda replied.

"Agreed," Ranicisis he said firmly. "This Sith Lord Dooku fought might have been the main problem, but his structure is still out there, whether it has other Force users within it or not, such as the Brotherhood we have been trying to find since the Naboo Conflict, is immaterial at this point. How do we go about dismantling it?"

"And do we do this alone?" asked Master Bilaba slowly. "Should we show the Chancellor, at the least, this information, that there might have been a Sith operating behind the scenes for so long?"

"No. Open about this we cannot be," Yoda said firmly. "Studied this in depth I have since this shift felt I did. Knowledge that we are looking must be kept close, lest we feed the Dark Side."

"Can we instigate an investigation into the Banking Clan?" asked Master Poof.

All eyes shifted to the newest member of the Council. Coleman Trebor was a public relations specialist and had several friends and connections with the intergalactic news networks. "We can if we're careful about it. The Banking Clan isn't very well thought of, and if their head is out of communication for a long period of time we can use that as a pretext to investigate his personal holdings. We have to be somewhat open about that aspect, however. How that will mesh with our desire to keep our concerns about this Sith Lord's organization secret I leave to older and wiser minds."

There were some dry chuckles about that around the room. He wasn't the youngest there, but even if you included Yaddle in the equation Master Yoda had the rest of the Council beat in that area.

Plo Koon had been silent up to this point, his personal datapad opened as he skimmed through some information. A gentle tap on his chair's armrest brought the rest of the council's attention to him, and he held up his datapad. "I wanted to see if I could find out what I could about the ship this Hego Damask used. It was reported in Coruscant space, but then it jumped out two days ago. The odd point is, it didn't contact Coruscant space command before it hypered out. And it did so in a direction where it was certain to run into a gravity well. I would recommend we try to follow that route before it gets too old."

"Agreed. Master Tiin, Master Koon, would the two of you please follow up on that the moment our meeting is done?"

The two of them were two of the best starfighter pilots in the Order. They had also been given special dispensation recently to aid in the construction of new starfighters for the Order. They both nodded agreement, though Tiin looked rather dubious that this hunt would equate to anything.

 **OOOOOOO**

For once since becoming a Sith, Sidious was angry with himself rather than with the universe at large. The reason for this was simple. Thanks to his eagerness to remove his former master and take command of the Veil, Sidious had made mistakes. First, he had overlooked the fact that Yoda would have felt his former padawan's death. Second, he was not on Coruscant, in order to further distance himself from the event.

This had served him in numerous ways, and he was certainly going to use his time abroad to good effect, but Sidious would not be on hand to attempt to steer or influence the Jedi's initial push to investigate the Banking Clan, and unfortunately he had not left any orders to that regard with Pestage. That was bad, as while there was nothing there to point to any Sith involvement, he had no agents of his own in the Banking Clan, Plagueis having handled them entirely on his own up to this point.

This left Sidious in the uncomfortable position of truly being blind to what could occur. _Nothing to lead the Jedi back to me or to the Order of Two, but what else will they discover? How much will this set back our plans to continue to gather the opposition forces for our war?_

The Veil also had weakened slightly as it shifted from his former master to Sidious. But that aspect did not matter much. It would grow stronger even than its previous incarnation soon enough. Further, now that it answered to Sidious alone, he would start to receive some of the power up from it that was part of the design.

No, it was the mistake with Yoda that was going to cost Sidious. _I wanted to move on the Banking Clan and my former master's personal holdings quickly, but now I can't! The Jedi will be watching it, and if I make any move to consolidate the clan's holdings or even look as if I have any previous connection to them, they will begin to be suspicious of me far too early in this game._

 _Still, the Jedi will not be in a position to take that power for themselves. That would go directly against the laws set down at the Reformation. The Banking Clan will have to deal with being watched by the Jedi more closely, but even that can be turned to my advantage,_ Sidious thought.

There was a slight beeping noise to one side, and Sidious came out of his meditation, turning in that direction. His droid pilot's face appeared there. "Master, we are coming out of hyperspace over Wayland."

Sidious nodded, saying nothing. The droid had its orders, having come this way before, and, after all, who would waste pleasantries on a droid? _Now to see what my master has been working on out here and if any of it can be turned to my purposes._

The ship, the same ship that he had given to his former apprentice, slowly descended towards the planet, a planet that appeared on no system charts in a system that appeared on no intergalactic map. A planet that had little to no sign of any inhabitants, save for a few scattered, extremely low-tech settlements. All of those were well away from the ship's target: a large mountain standing alone well away from any other.

Despite the fact that there was no visible sign of any technology, the ship was suddenly locked on by various targeting systems as they closed. Sidious quickly input a command control code, and they all shut down in sequence, one after another. A moment later a small portion of the mountainside opened, revealing that it had been artificial. The _Scimitar_ glided in, where it was caught quickly by a few small tractor beams, which helped to guide it to a gentle landing.

Exiting his ship, Sidious swiftly moved deeper into the mountain of Wayland, his black cloak billowing behind him as he moved.

First, Sidious checked on the projects he had known about going in, all of which seems to be puttering along nicely. None of them, however, were why he was really here. The ones he didn't know much about were: the ones his master had mentioned, the new experiments begun since the invasion of Naboo.

Plagueis had been his usual organized self, installing the new experiment on the highest levels of the mountain with the known experiments on the levels below. This included the storage facility for the original cloning cylinders they had purchased and then squirreled away from the Kaminoans. They were there waiting to be used in the future, but Sidious quickly saw that half them were missing. _I wonder what he has done with them? Well, I will find out soon enough._

Ascending to the topmost level of the hidden facility, Sidious was stopped by several automated defense systems coming online. "Halt and be recognized. Further attempts to move forward will result in your destruction and the destruction of this facility," droned a robotic voice out of a nearby speaker.

"I am Darth Sidious, Lord of the Sith, as you well know," Sidious intoned coldly. "This is **my** mountain. Let me pass or be destroyed."

"Where is Master Plagueis?" the same droid voice replied.

"Master Plagueis is dead," Sidious intoned, becoming angrier by the second but keeping a firm rein on it through the ease of a lifetime's practice. "I alone rule the Sith now. You have two seconds to turn off these defenses and get out of my way, or I will rip them and you asunder, IG-42."

For a moment there was nothing, than the automated guns shut down, pulling back into their recesses, while the door on the far side of them opened. On the other side was a large medical droid of a type found throughout the Republic. Its normally gray or white body had been painted a deep matte black, its eyes glowing not the normal yellow or white of such droids, but orange. Its grill, too, had been replaced by a narrower version.

All in all it looked the most sinister example of its basic design that Sidious had ever seen, though he was immune to the effect. He stared, a single millisecond away from rendering the droid down into pieces.

The droid's new words, however, caused him to pause. "Forgive me, Lord Sidious; Master Plagueis left instructions to keep the security on this level and his new experiments on high during his absence. He also left no orders in regards to what I should do in the event that you came here before he did."

"And do you have any orders in the event of his death?" Sidious asked, still cold. This droid irritated him for some reason. It always had. But it was too good at its job to simply do away with it without having a replacement available.

"Should the master be declared dead, I am to obey your commands as if you were him unless evidence suggests that you had anything to do with his death. As I have no connection to any off world Internet connection or Hypercom device, that portion of my programming is mute," IG-42 replied.

Sidious debated cutting the droid in half immediately, but decided against it. _It might have been wired into some kind of doomsday device, the droid no longer being part of the loop perhaps activating said program._ "Show me Plagueis' latest experiments, then."

"This way." The droid nodded its head and clumped down the corridor. They stopped at the first door, opening it. "These are the master's newest experiments. Would you like a running commentary? I have induced in my databanks verbal records of the former master's activities."

Inside were some of the missing cloning cylinders. Sidious swiftly counted five, which left forty still missing. "How many experiments was Plagueis running that had to do with cloning? And then yes, tell me the details of this experiment," he asked aloud, stepping forward and staring into the cloning cylinder. Inside was a human boy who looked perfectly normal, at least in the first cylinder. In the second…was something else entirely.

"Three out of his five newest experiments had to do with cloning and genetics, master. This particular experiment had to deal with genetic meshing." An instant later the droid continued in Plagueis' voice. "Subject number two-zero-zero-five. A genetically modified clone based upon mixing the genetics of Jango Fett and Sidious' assassin Maul. Through manipulation of the Force I have made certain that his connection to the Force will not fade. Zabraks and Humans can breed to a certain extent; however, the impact of my manipulations might have a detrimental effect on his mental stability. It should be interesting to see if he becomes more or less than the sum of its parts."

"Details, droid!" Sidious ordered. "What exactly was done to this one? What indoctrination is being inputted into its programming?"

"The programming is a mix that Master Plagueis devised himself, master. The clone will believe that it is a Mandalorian who has been taken and trained in the ways of the Sith. In this manner the clone should be able to call on the best of both worlds. As for further genetic modification, Plagueis felt that doing so would add to the chances that it would be mentally unstable, which currently has a possibility of 43.00987 percent."

The droid continued, becoming more animated as it described how it and Plagueis had manipulated the genetic codes of two men into creating the clone in the cylinder. It had been a very difficult operation, but Plagueis had been as mush scientist as Sith, and IG-42 had the programming to be the equal of the original clone masters.

Sidious said nothing as he moved through the room, looking at the three other cylinders. In two of them were Maul clones, barely toddlers at the moment, while in the third and last cylinder was another unmodified clone of Jango Fett. "And this one?"

At that question the droid once more replayed a verbal recording of Plagueis, something that Sidious was not pleased to hear but could do nothing about at the moment. "Subject two-zero-zero-two. This subject is the original unmodified clone promised to Jango Fett as his payment for allowing himself to be cloned in the first place. A completely unmodified, or indoctrinated or programmed clone, for now, at any rate. That might change, but at present he serves more as a source of fresh genetic material than in any capacity on its own."

"That implies that this other one is modified in some way?" Sidious mused. This cylinder contained a baby, very obviously not nearly as far along in the growing process as the first, but with no visible difference beside that. "And answer in your own words, droid."

"Affirmative," the droid replied, accepting the order, though Sidious might have heard a tone of derision or irritation there. "That one has been modified via scientific methods. It will be faster, stronger, and more docile, though its life expectancy after reaching its full growth will be measured in years rather than decades."

"Interesting." _Plagueis didn't mention that one, but I suppose since it matches to the commando type clone the cloners are creating for us it hardly matters._ "And do you have further unaltered genetic data from Fett?"

When the droid answered in the affirmative, indicating several small freezer units set to the other side of the lab, Sidious smiled grimly. "Then the unaltered clone is redundant." Activating his lightsaber, Sidious stabbed the red plasma beam through the cloning cylinder. It seared through the boy's chest and out the other side, burning his heart out.

The clone boy gasped, coming awake only to die, and Sidious smiled as he felt his death through the Force, however slightly. After all, while the death occurred right in front of him, the boy had not been a Force sensitive. _But still, that brief flare of agony was delicious._ Feeling it, Sidious further wrapped himself in the Dark Side, much of his anger at his miscalculation fading as he allowed his sadism a moment of free rein, something he could rarely do.

Quickly pulling his lightsaber out, he did not deactivate it as he turned to the droid, the red of the blade adding to the red of a series of alarms as the monitors on the cylinder behind him screamed out a warning, quickly silenced by IG-42. "Do you have any issues with what I just did?"

"Negative," IG-42 intoned. "You are the Master of Wayland and the Sith. You can do with these experiments what you wish. I would prefer you not to destroy them all. My primary mission at present is to watch over them and to take notes on their progress. But if you wish to get rid of one test subject or many, that is well within your rights as Master."

"Good," Sidious said simply, deactivating his lightsaber and hanging it openly on his waist now rather than under his cloak. "Show me the experiments that don't have to do with cloning. We'll come back to those in a moment. These four, at least, I will allow to continue to grow for now."

The other two experiments IG-42 was in charge of had to deal with Sith alchemy. Sidious found Sith alchemy fascinating, but he had never shown any aptitude towards it, something that angered him, but which he could not do anything about. He could manipulate minds, but not the bodies of people to this extent.

Two of these experiments had to deal with the effects of Sith alchemy on the human body, making it tougher, stronger, more susceptible to control. The third had to deal with creating monsters through Sith Alchemy. His master had attempted to reproduce some of the ancient beasts that the Sith had used in their long ago wars against the Jedi Order.

Those experiments Sidious dealt with quickly, ending their tortured existence personally before ordering the droid to activate the emergency flamethrowers each cage had installed, burning their bodies all to ash. If a beast such as that could not be controlled effectively, Sidious had no place for it in his designs for the future. It was control that was key, not creating chaos like these things seemed to revel in.

The others, however, were interesting and Sidious ordered the droid to keep track of their growth. The effect of Sith alchemy on the human body, a series of experiments that Sidious found fascinating. _Of course, continuing those experiments would take a dedicated individual here to keep the experiments going._

Following that line of thought, he turned to IG-42. "Tell me, droid: if I was to install someone else in this mountain with the specific orders to follow up on these Sith alchemic experiments of Plagueis', what could you do to halt him from any attempts to do anything beyond that specific sanction?"

"I could do much, master," IG-42 said, and it might have been Sidious' imagination but for a moment its eyes seemed to glow slightly brighter at the very idea. "For one thing, each of these rooms is programmed with bombs underneath them should any subject attempt to escape. For another, they cannot be deactivated and are rather on a dead droid's switch. If I am not present and online in the room when someone is in here, the bombs will go off instantly. Further, the former master implanted in me numerous devices which allow me some combat capability."

"Define that," Sidious ordered.

The droid took two steps backwards away from Sidious, and suddenly a shield glowed around it. "As I am not made of flesh and blood, the radiation of the shield matters not to me. It is based upon the shield the droidekas use."

One of its arms transformed slowly into a large blaster cannon, while an iris on his leg opened, revealing a lightsaber. "While I am in no way able to use the Force, I have programmed within me several different combat methodologies."

 _Plagueis, you were a magnificent planner. In many ways you are simply building upon what came before, but you did so in such an amazingly annotated manner._ "Good," Sidious said aloud. "I will possibly be sending you an individual to serve as scientist for these experiments in Sith Alchemy. But you will still retain overall command of this facility under **my** orders. When I have decided on who to send, I will send you detailed instructions along those lines before he arrives." _The prophets will be more help here than wallowing away in their hidden isolation._

"Understood, master, but I must bring to mind a caveat, a fact hardwired into my programming. This facility cannot withstand orbital bombardment for any length of time. It is secrecy more than anything else that has served us." For a moment its voice had shifted again to that of Plagueis.

"Do not lecture me, droid. I know all too well how vulnerable we still are," Sidious retorted with a scowl. "I will need to take some serious thought about how to make certain that Wayland's exact location remains unknown even to the individual I send to follow up on these experiments."

Again Sidious looked down at the three dead bodies on their tables, smiling at the excruciating pain their faces all showed. The pain and fear they must have felt still echoed in the Force of this room, and he drank in its heady tonic. But it was the notes on how pliable Sith Alchemy had made them which made them far more interesting. _Like an individual doped up on 'Slaught and a hallucinogenic, but without any downside or visible effects, unless it is taken too far._

Sidious ordered the droid to give him a copy of the stages of the alchemic experiments for him to look over, and once the droid had done so he gestured back to the hallway. "Now, let us return to the cloning experiments."

"Yes, master." IG-42 led the way through the darkened corridors to the room nearest to the Sith alchemy room. This was the largest room on this level and contained thirty of the missing cylinders, lining the room.

Yet when Sidious made to enter, IG-42 held out a hand. "A warning, master: this cloning experiment was built around an effect from an animal which impacts the Force in a negative manner. You will feel some discomfort if you enter the room."

"I am Sith," Sidious said coldly. "Discomfort is nothing."

With that he pushed the droid's arm aside and opened the door, entering quickly, only to gasp as the Force, the Dark Side which fueled his body, which surrounded him at all times even when he was hidden under his Stealth, left him utterly. "What?! What is…?"

Stumbling back out the doorway, he felt the Force return, his strength and certainty likewise returning, and the Veil covering him once more. "What was that?" he said, looking to the droid who seemed somehow darkly amused by his reaction.

"I do not know how the master found them," IG-42 said. "That information is not in my archives. But do you see several little animals stuck on various trees in there?"

Sidious looked and spotted the animals in question. "I see them. And…?"

For a moment the droid fell silent, and then when it spoke again it had once more assumed Plagueis' voice. "These animals have a most fascinating ability to actually push back the Force. They are the first animal that I have ever discovered that use this ability. It is a truly astonishing find, though it is obviously an evolutionary necessity given that the dominant animal on their planet hunts via detecting the Force. I will have to return to that planet at some point for more in depth study.

"But more importantly, this ability has some implications, one of which I believe could be connected to the clone madness. The clone madness, as anyone who has studied cloning should know, is a symptom which clones that are grown too quickly fall prey to within months of being decanted. This is regardless of species. There has never been any real in depth study done on why this could be, as there is very little in terms of genetic code which would carry over between all the species who have attempted cloning in the past. But I have long believed that it was because of a connection through the Force from one clone to the original. If we can cut off that connection, it then supposes that we will be able to grow a clone from youth to maturity far faster."

At that Sidious nodded, once more remembering the conversation he'd had with his master on that score. The implications were huge, both for the war effort and for Sidious' secret projects.

"However, this will have a negative effect on indoctrination, both in efficiency and the amount. For example, this would probably not work on clones that must have secret orders," the voice said, dust dry, "or who are supposed to act independently beyond a certain point. However, for the purposes of this experiment, Yinchorri hunting packs could be perfect. And what better tools to use to send against Master Windu and remove him before he is able to influence the vergence?"

Seeing the Yinchorri young growing in the cloning cylinders, Sidious nodded, remembering the conversation he and his master had on that topic. While not as obsessed with the vergence as his master, Sidious knew that removing Windu, as he had Dooku, was a necessity in the long term.

Despite his interest in the Yinchorri clones, however, Sidious did not try to enter the room once more. That feeling of being disconnected from the Force was a terrible one. It made him feel normal, mortal, and fallible, and he had **hated** the very idea.

Then a small, sinister smirk came to him. "Droid, I am about to perform some experiments. Begin recording."

The droid accepted command, a small iris on one side of its head opening and a video recorder coming out. "Ready, master."

Sidious raised a hand, pointing his palms out into the room, creating a bolt of Sith Lightning towards one of the animals within on its tree branch. Yet the technique failed almost instantly after crossing into the room, the lightning dissipating instantly. Scowling, Sidious then grabbed up a small rock and launched it forward as hard as he could hurl it with the Force. That worked, the momentum of the rock carrying it forward after it entered the field the animals were creating.

Smiling, Sidious reveled in the animal's squeals as it died, watching the others shift in their places. _That is good. At least I know there will still be a way for me to deal with those animals if need be._

But none of them made a move to try and leave. When he asked the droid why, he learned that they become almost symbiotically connected to the tree, their claws digging into the tree in such a way that they could no longer pull them out. Ignoring the still smoking creature, Sidious looked over at the droid. "Next?"

The next experiment proved to be a series of Darth Maul's clones, ten of them, in fact. And again, they were ensconced in an anti-Force field created by the animals. Or rather, eight of them were. The remaining two were normal clones outside the range of the animals' effect. According to the droid, Plagueis was trying to discern what the effect of the anti-Force field would be on a pure Force-using clone.

 _Very good Plagueis, very good indeed. Now here is an experiment which will be the equivalent of the gift which keeps on giving,_ Sidious thought, darkly amused by the turn of phrase his mind had come up with, unbidden.

Of course, Sidious didn't trust the droid to have told him about everything, though it did in fact turn out that it had. Even after Sidious had searched the mountain of Wayland from top to bottom over the next few days, he found no sign of any secret experiments being kept from him, no sign of any secret hidden away by his master to be used against him.

 _Plagueis,_ Sidious thought as he once more returned to the control room of the mountain, this time with the medical droid next to him. _It turns out you did fully trust me and, in that, proved that you were not worthy of being Sith. Still, I cannot say I am sorry for it. It certainly has benefited me, and it will certainly benefit the Sith Order going into the future._

Sidious sat down in the throne room cum control center of Wayland, thinking hard for a moment as he stared at the readouts all around him. "Tell me, droid: can you extrapolate from known data?"

"I am far better at doing so on a medical and genetic model, master. If you're asking me for a psychological analysis of future events, I can at best give you an educated guess," IG-42 replied.

"What would the psychological impact be on an individual forced to fight a clone of himself?"

For a moment the droid was still, and then it is body language seemed to shift into an almost sadistic seeming stance. "Master, are you speaking of two parallel clones? That is, two clones of the same experimental branch?"

"I am."

"In that case, master, it would depend both on the individual in question and whether both of them knew that they were clones or thought that the other was simply a clone and that they were the original."

"Extrapolate that it is two Darth Maul clones and that both will be indoctrinated to believe that they are the original, facing a clone of themselves," Sidious ordered.

"Anger, master. Great anger, mistrust, and fury. It will force them to push themselves to a far greater degree than anything else I can think of and will make them more pliable for further mental manipulation.

"Excellent. How long until the clones that are part of the anti-Force experiments are finished growing?"

"They will not be finished growing for four more months, master. Their indoctrination, however, will not match the clones that are being grown in the slower manner, which will have an impact on their individual skills," the droid cautioned.

"Hmm. I would not be able to return that soon the event. Slow their growth process down to half of the normal amount. Proceed with the indoctrination of all the skills and abilities that my former apprentice had accumulated. Can you do that?"

The droid answered in the affirmative.

"Good. When that process is done, release them into a fighting arena, two at a time, and have them fight one another. Record the events and then welcome the winners as Darth Maul, one after another. Keep them separate. By that time I might have enough ships to send them all out on individual missions."

"Query, master: will the individual you will be placing here to oversee the Sith alchemy experiment arrive before or after this event?"

"After. I do not want that individual in any way involved with the cloning experiments. When will you have the first batch of Yinchorri ready to go?" Sidious asked.

"Two months, master, no later. Further, thanks to their simpler physiology and genetic imperatives, the indoctrination on them will be far more effective than it would be on humans. Though I will warn you that Lord Plagueis had not decided what background story to program them with."

Sidious thought for a moment, and then nodded slowly. "Here is the background story which we will feed them. It will be simple, but will answer their questions for certain. Getting them off planet and somewhere useful without their knowing anything of Wayland will be more difficult, but still feasible. For now, I have more questions before I must leave to head back out into the universe at large…"

 **OOOOOOO**

Master Fay stared out the small viewport of the bridge of the Lucrehulk that they had christened the _Tyrant's Bane_. A combative name not to Master Fay's liking, but it had been decided on via a vote. And she couldn't really argue about the sentiment behind the name.

It had taken them several jumps to reach the edge of the ever moving, almost completely un-chartable hyperspace territory surrounding Ruusan and the quadrants around it. But they were here now, and it was time to jump into the true unknown.

But something was making Fay pause from calling the others to the bridge, something that she had been sensing for a few days now ever since Master Yoda's call about Master Dooku.

That had been a trying time. Count Dooku had become, if not a friend, at least a well-respected colleague to Master Fay, and Lily had liked him too. But the one most hurt by Dooku's death had been Harry, who had looked up to the man as one of very few male role models he had had in his life.

Something about the Makashi master's death was calling to her, something that occurred afterwards. Concentrating on it made Fay not wish to turn her attention to anything else just yet, such as plotting a hyperspace route through the disturbances with the Force.

No navigation computer would be able to do that; it fell on the Jedi to use the Force to try from here on, and it would get harder the closer they came to Ruusan. Whether the nebulae was warped into its current unplottable form was through luck or from the Thought Bomb was unknown, and the whys of it didn't matter so much as the fact they would have to get through it somehow. The nebulae covered nearly the entire Terrab Sector and large segments of its neighboring Mid Rim sectors.

"I can't explain it better," she said, not looking away from the view as Lily's ethereal fingers floated through her hair. "The Force as a whole is once more not responding to my requests for knowledge. There is both hope and fear in the future, as if the future is suddenly in flux to a degree that I have never seen before. It is as if the impact of your and Harry's arrival has suddenly gained more impetus, or perhaps a rebounding effect? The dark has receded, but not enough. There are far too many variables for the Force to tell me which way it will go. There is something else there, something that is just on the edge of my senses, but I can't grasp it."

Fay now looked up at Lily, smiling slightly. "But because of Dooku's actions, hope is returned: the Light side has gained some strength. It falls on us to add fuel to that little fire so that it can keep growing."

"Isn't that good enough for now, love?" Lily said with a smile.

Master Fay smiled, raising her hand to catch Lily's hand with her own. It glowed with the Force for a moment and their fingers interlaced, Lily's hand feeling almost solid for a second. Their relationship had shifted somehow along the way, moving from friends to something far closer to lovers. It couldn't make that final leap, of course. Even with the Force, Fay couldn't touch Lily for more than a few seconds. She couldn't even send out her presence in such a way as to interact with Lily rather than with the Force as a whole.

But oddly enough, that was all right with Master Faye. She had never been in a relationship physical or otherwise, and she had always felt the mental and emotional aspect was more important than the physical. Harry and Aayla's bond certainly seemed to prove that, and both she and Lily were satisfied with what they had now.

For a moment the two were just silent, holding hands. But then Fay sighed, taking her hand away from Lily's, the Force draining out of her hand as a moment of tiredness struck her. "It is time for us to prepare for the next phase of our journey."

 **OOOOOOO**

There were far better ways of being woken up than the intercom going off, Harry reflected, but if there was a better thing to wake up to than Aayla kissing his cheek, her body wrapped around his, Harry didn't know what it could be. He turned his head, kissing her lightly on the lips and staring into her eyes as their arms tightened around one another. They might have kept on kissing for some time if the intercom hadn't gone off again, rousing them from their little world. "Harry, Aayla, it's time. We are ready for our next hyperspace jump."

The two padawans quickly joined their fellow padawan, the single Knight, the single ghost, and the two Masters in the control room, which made Harry's lips quirk and he thought, _My, we are an odd group aren't we?_ He felt Aayla's response, which caused his lips to form into a smile while the others all nodded at them in greeting.

Master Fay sat at the navigation controls, but with her chair turned around to the open area between the navigation position and the captain's chair. The others were already sitting down in a semicircle, and Harry and Aayla quickly slotted in. They didn't touch one another, but they sat in a circle, all of them in meditation poses and looking to Master Fay, who would lead them in this joint exercise.

She smiled at the three padawans and began to explain the method for reaching out through the Force to discern a route through hyperspace. It was something none of the trio had done before, since it was an advanced form of discerning the future somewhat, though it was more connected to the material plane than most such. _Although, is the hyperspace really a material plane?_ Regardless, the longer the jump, the harder it was to actually discern.

But their route forward was so congested that the padawans' inexperience actually wasn't as much of a burden as it would've been otherwise. This was proven a few moments later as Master Giiett shook his head slightly, not coming out of his own meditation but breaking his concentration to both continue the exercise and speak aloud. "The hyperspace routes are more cluttered than even I had feared. I cannot see any route forward."

"I can," Master Fay said serenely. "But these will be short jumps: very short. And I fear that each jump in turn will be more difficult the further we go into the nebula."

Quinlan nodded his head. "I can see a way through for a single hyperspace jump of a single parsec out system. But we'll be coming out between star systems. I've never done that before."

"Ah, there it can my turn to be the voice of experience, for I have" Giiett said. "Due to a faulty hyperspace computer, admittedly, rather than through any actual plan, but it isn't that different. We should, however, close the viewports. A normal individual's mind is not ready to see how dark it is out between star systems. Ah, I mean that literally rather than in terms of the Force," he joked.

"Understood, master," said the three padawans in turn, all three rolling their eyes at Micah's attempts to lighten the atmosphere. Even so, it had worked, and he smiled, satisfied.

The next second all of them turned their attention once more to joining their Force powers. Master Fay led them, but this did not mean that the others could not speak their minds, although, admittedly, splitting their attention between doing so and keeping the connection going was somewhat difficult.

"Are we ready?" Master Fay asked, despite it not being needed at the moment. The others simply sent back affirmative thoughts through their momentary connection, and she slowly turned and began to input the coordinates for the jump.

A moment later it was done and they all came out of the meditation and moved to their various positions. Once they were situated, Harry brought up the ship's shields, concentrating them on the forward bow, just in case. And then the _Tyrant's Bane_ hopped into the unknown.

They came out several moments later after a hundred light years had passed. And, like Master Quinlan had said, they came out between two star systems. Directly ahead of them was a giant asteroid blocking their way forward through hyperspace. The areas between star systems were not empty as many people thought, they were filled with detritus like this: wandering planetary bodies which had not been grabbed by a sun or which were stuck between various different gravity systems, muddying up hyperspace.

"Well done, everyone," Master Fay said, smiling at them all. "We have taken our first hyperspace jump into the anomaly. Now, let us concentrate on the next one."

Several hours of meditation passed before the group consciousness was satisfied with their next jump. It was again a short one, this time only fifty parsecs. And again they came out in the darkness between two star systems. They all looked at one another as Master Fay input the command for that jump. "This is going to take a very long time, isn't it?" Harry asked.

"Months or years, more like," Quinlan said with a nod. "We tend to forget how much space is between star systems, but here, I'm afraid, we are going to be getting a rather pointed lesson in that fact."

"Nonetheless," Master Fay replied serenely. "It is what we need to do."

The other Jedi Masters looked at her, while the padawans all simply nodded. Giiett asked, "I take it that you have felt something?"

"I did the moment we began that first jump. We are on the path the Force wants us to follow," Master Fay replied. "Beyond that, we will have to see."

"Good enough for me," Master Giiett said with a faint smile. He made no mention of the Balance or the Force in general. At this point, with the Veil still in place, more Light was precisely what he felt was needed in the universe.

Concentrating like this on trying to find their route, however, was the mental equivalent of playing hundreds of mental chess games all at once, when every move they made on one had to affect all the others. The trio of padawans were all exhausted after three jumps, and Quinlan was not faring much better. Even Giiett was feeling it after the third jump.

"Go to sleep," Master Fay ordered. "Master Giiett and I will discuss how to organize our time from here on out, but it makes no sense for us to simply concentrate on speeding along. I'm getting no sense of urgency, so it behooves us to use this time much more wisely."

The trio of youngsters all nodded and headed off wearily, followed quickly by Master Quinlan. Once they were alone, Giiett looked at Fay and Lily quizzically. "No sense of urgency?

"None. There is a sense of waiting, of anticipation. But there is no sense of urgency attached to our personal mission, and I cannot see that allowing the passage of time will hurt or hinder anything beyond us," Fay replied. "Indeed, I am getting the exact opposite feeling: that the more we are out of sight, the better." _Although it would be more accurate to say, the longer Harry and Aayla are out of sight the better. While my own future is important, the future in its entirety still changes with the actions of the two of them._

"Ah, but that doesn't mean it won't, just that we can't sense it?" Micah asked.

"I can tell you only what I can sense, Master Giiett," Fay said sighed.

Master Giiett thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. "That will have to do, then. When a man is blind, he would be foolish to say he would not follow the one eyed man."

"That is the most mangled phrase I've ever heard," Lily said, and all three of them laughed before turning their attention to other things.

 **OOOOOOO**

Anakin was thrilled as he and Master Windu stepped out onto the planet of Taanab. This was the first mission Anakin had been on that had taken him away from the Jedi Temple, and he was eager to prove himself in the field. He had been on a few missions on Coruscant and had even met some senators and chancellors, but despite that, Anakin felt this was his first real mission as a Jedi.

"Jedi padawan, Anakin," Mace said from behind him, reaching down and grabbing Anakin's shoulder lightly and steering him to one side so they were no longer in the way of the other passengers getting off the liner the two of them had taken from Coruscant to Sullust. "You are projecting your thoughts again."

"Sorry, master, but keeping my thoughts to myself is somehow harder to do than not looking into other people's emotions."

"It is, but it is a necessary skill," Mace replied, both acknowledging the difficulty and pointing out the necessity in one sentence. "Now come, Cloak yourself and follow me."

Anakin nodded. Concentrating, he pulled the Force around him in such a way that normal people wouldn't be able to see him. The technique made him grumble, since he had heard several times there was another, subtler version of the technique, but Mace had yet to teach it to him. Shaking that thought off, he quickly raced to catch up to the taller man, whose long strides had already taken him away from the rest of the passengers.

He had been with Master Mace for over two years now. And in that time Anakin had grown, both in height and power, he knew it. He knew he was strong for his age, yet his master continually proved that he still had a lot to learn. And the way he did made that fact seem so simple and obvious, Anakin could only feel awe at how far he had to go rather than irritation at that fact.

The two of them swiftly exited through the spaceport's local office, heading into the city beyond. As they walked, Mace ordered, "Tell us about our mission here in your own words."

Anakin paused as Mace said the phrase, 'in his own words.' That meant Mace wanted more than a simple precis on their mission: he wanted Anakin to think about what it meant. Anakin was being tested once more. That was fine. Anakin had gotten used to being tested, learning quickly not to simply blurt out the first thing that came to his mind, whatever his belief that the Force guided such thoughts.

"We are to look into an allegation against the sector senator from the local planetary governor," he said slowly. "However, the governor did not come to us in person; rather, he sent an intermediary. That intermediary himself did not feel trustworthy through the Force. It feels more as if someone is trying to use the Jedi Order here, master. To remove a local opponent, perhaps?"

"Very good," Mace said. "That matches with my own reading of this mission as well as the High Council's. But what will that mean for us?"

Again Anakin paused before replying. "We will need to continually use the Force to discern whether or not we are being led? It's hard to explain, master. The evidence we will find… I have no doubt **we** will find evidence, but we will need to make certain it was not planted, that it matches reality…"

"Close enough. Your meaning comes through, Anakin, and as you grow up you will become better at expressing yourself. But do you think you are up to that task?" Mace asked, his face blank as he looked down at his padawan.

"I aim to do my best, master," Anakin said, wondering if this was another moment where his master was going to try to burst his ego. He couldn't tell one way or the other just yet.

Mace often did this, attempting to humble Anakin, though it rarely took. Anakin knew himself too well to not have realized this. Instead, Anakin took his words and acted on them because he knew the more he learned the better, more powerful Jedi he would be. _And power was the thing,_ Anakin thought. The more powerful a Jedi he became the more things Anakin could change.

That was why he respected his master so much: he was truly a powerful Jedi and one of the greatest lightsaber duelists to ever live. He had seen Master Mace take on several other well-known lightsaber duelists all at the same time and beat them, although Master Mace had refused to teach him Vaapad until he was older.

"Stretch out your Force senses, Anakin," Mace said, taking the boy by the shoulder and leaping up with him to a nearby building. There they hid in a small alcove for a moment, with Mace on the lookout. "Tell me what you can sense here. I want to know if it matches what I can sense."

Complying, Anakin closed his eyes for a few more minutes before opening them in looking at his master. "…A sense of danger? A sense of danger towards the two of us in particular?"

"Indeed. Hence my earlier question. I did not sense that before coming to this planet, but it is here now. I cannot tell any more about it then you can, which is worrisome," Mace replied.

"So we'll just have to be ready for anything, master," Anakin replied confidently.

Mace smiled at that and, for once, made no move to burst his young padawan's bubble. The Force was not giving them anything specific to act upon, and there was precious little they could do at the moment other than be ready for anything.

"Come," he said instead, turning away and leaping towards the next rooftop over. "Let us move on and start our investigation."

The two of them, using their Force powers, stayed hidden for the most part, watching the comings and goings of the sector senator's mansion, seeing what kind of people he surrounded himself with when he was not on Coruscant. Before this he had been lauded as one of very few Sector senators who remained in touch with their roots, heading home for at least a week out of every month. But there was a sinister ulterior motive behind that seeming largess.

They quickly learned that the man was indeed crooked. He had numerous contacts they traced to the local underworld, especially the local drug dealers. On top of that he had four personal slaves, girls taken from the planet's population and who had been given to him as presents by the underworld gangs.

While Mace was dismayed that the man's perfidy had gone so long unnoticed, the sight of the four slaves through his range finder made Anakin's blood boil. Indeed, it did so to such a degree that his master looked at him sharply, his narrowed eyes and harshly denunciatory face ordering Anakin to control his emotions better far more easily than any words could.

Anakin did so, though he did not do so in a manner that most Jedi would have. Instead of simply bottling them up and forgetting about them, Anakin stuffed the images he was seeing through his rangefinder into the back of his mind with the anger that accompanied them, vowing to himself that he would make every person who owned a slave in the universe **pay**.

 _Power, I need more power to change things like that! My mother's work with her charity group is just not enough! The universe must be made to know the evils of slavery, and if they do not understand, then they will be made to pay!_ Still, he kept those thoughts off his face, not willing to deal with another lecture about how a Jedi should not let his desires drive him or blind him to reality.

After a few days spent on planet they had more than enough evidence of the senator's wrongdoings to remove him. "With the chancellor's push to hold the senators accountable and his anti-corruption campaign, we could easily see him behind bars right now, master, so why haven't we gone back to Coruscant to do that? Or are we going to wait and ambush him here?" he added, his face lighting up eagerly. "That way we could also free his slaves at the same time."

"Remember what I asked you when we first arrived, padawan," Mace said, sighing sadly. Again his padawan allowed the now to cloud his ability to discern the future, allowed his anger to get the better of him. That anger against all things slavery was still with the boy, despite Mace's best efforts to wean him out of it. "We must look into the Shadows at all times, although the idea of an ambush is indeed a good one. A man such as the senator has too many resources to give him even a chance to run."

Anakin was about to say something there, but then at Mace's raised eyebrow paused, trying to remember that conversation. "We need to investigate the whistleblower as well?" he asked.

"Is that a question or a statement?"

"A statement, master," Anakin replied firmly.

"Indeed. And this will allow us to go with your plan of ambushing the senator upon his return," Mace said, throwing the boy a bone.

That didn't even take as long as investigating the governor had. It turned out that the whistleblower was almost as corrupt as the governor in question, though he didn't keep slaves. Instead, his vice was being a part-time owner in a local blood sport. After watching a match, Anakin could only shake his head. It was like pod racing and city combat rolled into one horrible, and very bloody, game.

"Well, we have all the evidence we need. Now we must find a local individual in the political and on the police side of things who is both not corrupted and who is capable of doing the job," Mace said with sigh.

Anakin actually let loose a groan at that, and Mace chuckled, patting him on the shoulder. "Now, now. Missions like these are the bread-and-butter of the Order. We can't have combat missions all the time. Even Guardians don't."

"Doesn't make me any happier, master," Anakin replied cheekily.

"A Jedi does not need to feel happy when doing his duty," Mace said, his lips quirked into a faint smile. "Although it is to be hoped that this should not take long. We can rely solely on the Force for this, rather than gathering physical evidence as well as that from the Force itself, after all."

They had turned their attention to this task for barely a few hours before Anakin's wish for excitement came true.

The two of them were moving through a crowd in the planet's capital city when there was a flicker of movement behind them. Anakin turned as someone grabbed his shoulder, twisting him around. Shocked at someone actually noticing him through his Force Cloak enough to do so, Anakin halted his immediate reaction, and the next thing he knew his master had grabbed him by the back of the cloak and pulled him away from the person who had initially grabbed him.

A blaster bolt went off, the blast passing through the space where Anakin had just been standing, impacting Master Mace's lightsaber as he interposed it between them. The snap-hiss of the blade activating merged with the crackle of the bolt being deflected. Then suddenly everything was all cries and shouts as over a dozen blaster bolts opened up from above the Jedi and the crowd around them.

Mace hastily threw up a Force Shield over the surrounding people. One of the techniques which had now spread throughout the Order, it once more proved its worth, saving the lives of the local citizens caught in the crossfire. "Everyone, run!" Mace shouted, hoping to keep that from changing.

The locals needed no second urging, racing away from the fighting. The attackers had come from above and behind the two Jedi, so this allowed the crowd an egress. Soon, even over the continued light of the attacker's blasters hitting Mace's Force Shield, they could see their attackers.

There seemed to be four main groups of attackers, three of whom had rushed forward to close with the Jedi first. Seven were on the roofs above them, firing down with heavy rifles. Two groups of six came in from either side. Now, with the crowd of the way, they rushed forward, their blasters firing, while another group came up behind the Jedi, too late to save their more eager fellows, but also the closest portion of the ambush.

And all of them were Yinchorri warrior caste: green and pale gray scales, a heavy, reptilian head with a forward thrusting snout, and deep-set eyes protected by heavy ridge bones. Mace had not seen any Yinchorri since the mission against them, and now, here they were, attacking him and his padawan out of the blue. _What are they doing here?_ he thought, even as he slipped into a defensive lightsaber style, pushing Anakin slightly away from them.

Seeing his apprentice still looking a little shocky thanks to his near brush with death, Mace barked, "Anakin, snap out of it!" even as he dealt with the last of the trio of Yinchorri who had already closed with the Jedi.

Anakin did so quickly, activating his own lightsaber, a bright blue blade to Master Mace's purple. "What are they, master?"

"Yinchorri. A shade out of the past, dealing with one of my missions from before we met. I have no idea why they are here, but do not hold back. They have killed Jedi before," Mace warned.

Nodding, Anakin brought his lightsaber up and began to deflect bolts back or to the side, taking some of the pressure off Mace. He also threw up his own Force Shield, a solid bubble of Force blocking the leftmost attackers.

No longer needing to cover them both, Mace, while continuing to use his lightsaber with one hand to deflect blaster bolts, reached out with the Force with one of his own signature moves. A Force Crush caught the Yinchorri on the right before moving along in a line, crushing each Yinchorri's chests in turn like someone had just smashed them all with a log to the chest.

That Jedi power was a little too close to outright aggression for most Jedi to use, but Mace could do so without fear of falling to the Dark Side. Anakin blanched at seeing it used on flesh and blood opponents for the first time, but he quickly followed up, twisting around his master and leaping in the direction of the attackers coming at them from behind. His lightsaber flashed, protecting his body in midair from the blaster bolts, of which he deflected many back into the attackers, until he landed in among a few more of the Yinchorri, hacking this way and that.

At the same time Mace leaped upwards, attacking the ten Yinchorri on the rooftops, canceling his Force Shield to do it. In the process of trying to get down from the roofs in order to get around the shield, the ten Yinchorri were caught flatfooted, and the first two died before the others could even raise their weapons.

Below on the street, Anakin's lightsaber failed him against a cortosis vambrace, but Anakin had actually seen that coming through the Force, such was his ability with Force Precognition. He ducked underneath a bayonet stab from the owner of the vambrace and reached up to grab its blaster. Using that touch, the ten year old powered a Force Push that hurled the reptilian sentient away to land face first into a nearby building with bone crushing momentum.

He then leaped away quickly, his lightsaber coming back to life just in time for him to cut another Yinchorri in half. His lightsaber then deflected two near pointblank blaster bolts back into the shooters, leaving him facing four Yinchorri. They didn't retreat, however, racing to grapple, their bayonets raised or forgotten. At the same time, behind him Anakin felt his Force Shield crumble, letting in the leftmost wing of the attackers.

Before Anakin could be flanked and overcome, Mace finished with the Yinchorri on the roofs. He landed in among the new attackers, lightsaber flashing. Mace finished all of them off within seconds thanks to how tightly they were packed as they raced forward, but left one of them alive even as he cut through its legs. Behind him, Anakin finished off the last of the attackers there.

Staring dispassionately down at the Yinchorri, Mace pointed his lightsaber's end directly between the Yinchorri's eyes, the hum loud in the sudden silence as the battle ended. As Anakin moved to join him, Mace asked, "Why were you after us? Speak, and I will give you an honorable death. If not, I will simply leave you crippled."

Mace knew that that threat would get through to the warrior, where an actual normal threat would never have. To continue to live crippled as he was would be the ultimate dishonor. And though he would take no pleasure in it, they needed to know if there was something more behind this attack other than bad luck.

"We will have revenge, Jedi! Revenge on you and the others who beat us! Revenge for our species' subjugation!" the Yinchorri gurgled.

"That is all?" Mace asked, surprised and disconcerted. He had thought, perhaps, that this was a sign that the local senator had noticed them somehow. After all, Yinchorri were not the only species which could see through Jedi mind tricks like the Cloak. To hear that this was for revenge was troubling. "Revenge for your species' being forced to give up space, revenge for the Jedi beating you when you tried to expand?"

"Revenge! We will prove the Yinchorri are still strong!" the Yinchorri shouted, then actually lunged forward using only its stomach muscles to raise its upper body, impaling its own forehead on the end of Mace's lightsaber before he could pull it back. Staring in shock, Mace didn't try to move until Anakin reached out with the Force, hurling them both away as his Force senses finally screamed out a warning.

The Yinchorri's body exploded, hidden thermal detonators going off with its death. Only a hasty Force Shield from Mace saved both of them from being badly wounded. "Thank you, Anakin," Mace said. He had been so astonished at the Yinchorri's suicide that he hadn't felt the sense of danger in the Force.

"You're welcome, Master Windu," Anakin said, nodding at the Force Shield. "I think we're even. I didn't feel any aggression from that first one until he touched me either," he confided. "I suppose I still have much to learn."

"Of course you do, but do not blame your lack of foreknowledge on a mistake on your part, not for this, at any rate," Mace said. At Anakin's quizzical look, Mace explained. "The Yinchorri are blind to the Force, Anakin. They are able to ignore mental techniques, and this spreads to our ability to sense them through the Force. That makes them very dangerous."

"Are we liable to run into more of them, master? The way that one was speaking…" Anakin trailed off, staring at the bodies of the Yinchorri all around them. "And well, the way they kept coming. Their fanaticism is disturbing."

"I am rather afraid we will, Anakin. The Yinchorri were nothing if not fanatic about their race's superior strength to others," Mace said. "Although where they came from is beyond me.

"Still, our presence here is now known to the locals, Anakin," Mace went on with a gesture towards a few of the civilians who were slinking back into sight. They could also hear the sound of sirens in the distance. "That means that the time for hiding has passed. We will need to move quickly against the planetary governor. I will also contact the Temple and have the sector senator taken under arrest. We will move first to his palace, free his slaves, and search for more evidence against him immediately."

Even as Anakin grinned, Mace's mind was still on the sudden ambush by the Yinchorri. _How did the Yinchorri know we were on Sullust in the first place? On the other hand, we were not covering ourselves during the trip on the liner, and I suppose my features are rather memorable. Someone could have spotted us and sold that information to further criminal types. Still, that is something to look into later._

Finishing their task did not take over long, and later that day the two of them were once more in the local Hypercom array, speaking to the Chancellor and Master Ranicisis both. The Chancellor, who had been brought in when the Jedi arrested the sector senator, listened intently, then congratulated both Anakin and Mace for their speedy and evenhanded handling of a delicate issue. "You have both my thanks and the thanks of the Senate. With another corrupt official removed, we are that much closer to cleaning up the Senate permanently."

Even as they nodded at that and the young padawan grinned, the two Jedi Masters hid wan smiles. While Palpatine had continued his work to revamp and try to streamline the moribund Senate bureaucracy, his efforts to drain the swamp that was the Senate itself had failed to yield results just yet. Still, this particular case of corruption was clear cut enough that even the Senate wouldn't be able to complain.

"Although this attack on you concerns me. We have had several instances of Yinchorri like that being found in pirate gangs or other underworld groups, but this is the first that has come to my attention in which a Jedi was attacked this brazenly," Palpatine went on, his face grave. "I've been in touch with the quarantine forces, and it is the opinion of them and my military advisers that these groups are survivors of bands the Yinchorri had sent out to cause trouble while they were preparing their main expansion forces. They have thrown off their species' normal indoctrination to obey the Leader caste, which you forced to surrender during that campaign, and struck out on their own."

"The Order agrees with that analysis, though this is not the first attack on a Jedi," Ranicisis said sadly. "Three days ago another such attack occurred. Master Choi and his padawan are both dead. They were on a simple show the flag type diplomatic mission and had no opportunity to even defend themselves."

"I am sorry to hear that. Any death is a sad one, a Jedi's even more so given their service to the Republic," the Chancellor said, shaking his head. "I could wish Chancellor Valorum had moved against them more forcefully and more quickly so that they did not have time to spread these little spoiling groups. But if they are after the Masters who were involved in that mission, you may be targeted further, Master Windu."

"Now that the threat is known to me, both my padawan and I will be on the lookout for more such," Mace said simply. "I will not retreat to the Temple with my proverbial tail between my legs. If the Yinchorri wish to find me, I will simply be ready for them. The main question will be how they are able to prepare such ambushes in the first place."

"I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but my own sources in the underworld are very limited. A downside to my anticorruption campaign, I suppose you could say," Palpatine finished drolly.

"We can only take what comes as the Force wills it," Mace said philosophically.

Next to him Anakin grinned. "Hey, if this means our missions will be more interesting, I'm all for it."

Mace rolled his eyes, but the Chancellor chuckled at that, exchanging a nod with the young padawan. "I said I'd watch your career as a Jedi with interest, young man. Just see to it that it is not a short tale, hmm?"

 **OOOOOOO**

"It's purple," Harry said blankly, staring at the monitor that was showing an image of the planet their ship was orbiting. "Our first inhabited planet in over a year of travel and it's purple. Gah."

"What's wrong with the color purple?" Aayla asked, confused

"It's girly," Harry and Alecto said as one before they laughed.

"Ah, I would dare you to say that to Master Windu's face, boys. It would be a lesson in humility that would no doubt serve you both good in the long run," Master Giiett said.

The youngsters all looked at him in confusion, but it was Quinlan who supplied the answer. "As you know, Master Windu is one of the finest duelists in the Order. What you obviously do not know is that his lightsaber blade is purple."

"…Forget I said anything," Harry replied, remembering what he had heard about the creator of Vaapad. Alecto nodded just as seriously, while Aayla laughed at the sudden reversal.

It had been a year since they had begun their journey into the unknown regions around Ruusan, and this was indeed the first planet they'd come upon that had any inhabitants, their cities visible from orbit as scattered lights below them. The atmosphere was purple, a light, almost violet color. Something in the air colored it like such, but according to their ship's scanners it was still breathable. There were a few trace elements that would not be good for an offworlder to get too much of, but they should be fine given their Jedi powers

"They don't seem to have any kind of space-based industry. I wonder why," Lily said. She was currently peering over Aayla's shoulders at present, while the Twi'lek was using their space-based scanners to make certain there wasn't anything threatening out there.

"Why would they?" Fay replied with a sigh, coming out of her meditation. "This planet is the only other astral body in the system outside their star itself. And if they have any understanding of hyperspace they know it would be practically impossible for them to jump anywhere else. I imagine they retreated somewhat technologically after being abandoned by the Republic, but I hope not to the point where we will be obligated to help them recover technologies. That could take years, after all."

"Master Fay, do you sense anything specific down there that we should know about?" Master Giiett asked.

"Nothing important. However, I think that we need to leave Alecto and Aayla behind." Fay replied.

"May I ask why, master Fay?" Alecto asked, cocking his head thoughtfully to one side.

"I have not found the minds of any sentients down there but those of humans."

Harry nodded. "If they have retreated into a pre-space mentality, then humans might be the only species on the planet. If they're all human, most of us will fit in, of course, but…"

Alecto nodded glumly. "I'd have to use Force Cloak all the time, then, to hide my presence, and there should be one of us left behind anyway, right?"

"Exactly. And it would have to be you or Aayla, I think," Master Fay said with a smile.

"And I am both better at Cloak and can change my appearance, my skin color, and even my overall species if I try hard enough," Aayla said, nodding. She could do that if she had to, though it was intensely painful. Lekku were not just for show: they were connected to Aayla's brain, containing within them the portion of a Twi'lek's mind devoted to memory.

"No, I think you can get by with just a skin color change, tying your lekku down behind your neck and an appropriate wig," Harry said with a smile. "I'll even help with the wig."

"You just want to see what I'd look like if I was human," Aayla teased, only to fight back a blushing moan as Harry replied via their mental connection.

The image was of the two of them lying in bed as Harry nipped and played with her lekku, his fingers playing with her nipples. And it wasn't an image, but a memory of the first time they had played around with one another sans their shirts a few months ago. The emotions and feelings came from the memory, making Harry's comment of, _"I love you just as you are, Aayla Secura; never forget that,"_ rather redundant.

Realizing what had just happened, Fay smiled, but stood up resolutely. "Come, let us prepare for this as best we can. Then we can finally get some fresh fruit." The ship had a lot of supplies, but the fresh food they'd had with them had not lasted the whole year. And the Jedi had been slow to realize this and shift their energies from other projects to creating a hydroponics section of the ship. So while, thanks to Harry's transfiguration skills, they were still eating well, the actual vitamins and protein they need to fulfill their dietary needs needed to be refilled.

It had been nearly a year as they passed through the void between systems. The stars, gases, and astral bodies in this sector of space were so chaotic that they simply could not jump more than a few hundred parsecs at a time. The one time they had miscalculated, taking the next jump too quickly, it was like the ship had run into a wall in hyperspace, coming out so abruptly it had overcome the ship's internal gravity. The ship had survived, thanks to its immense durability, but the hyperspace engines had nearly blown, only stopped from doing so because of their own size and durable nature. The six of them had to make a hundreds of tiny repairs throughout the ship and in the engine room, which had taken them several weeks of hard work, but when they were done, all of them came away with more respect for the Neimodians engineering. "Now if only their moral fiber matched it," Micah had said at the time, causing laughs all around.

The Jedi loaded up Fay's old ship with small tradable items they had taken from Serenno. These ranged from local spices they picked up back then, all the way up to portable heaters and other more technologically advanced items. Using barter, if possible, would be much easier than trying to use Republic currency, given that the Jedi had known they would be running into planets which would be almost completely cut off from one another.

Soon the ship was loaded, and the Jedi all piled in, leaving Alecto behind to head back to the bridge.

The ship came down through the atmosphere near one of the planet's poles, well away from any habitation, remaining unseen until they were near the planet's surface. Luckily, the locals had numerous shuttles moving around across the planet, so they were able to blend in somewhat better than Master Fay had anticipated. Despite that, they took no chances, landing the ship far away from the city that they had targeted for their trade mission.

With Fay leading the way and Harry and Micah leading the repulsor trays containing their trade goods, the group moved through, first the forest, then the fields around the city. The city was an open one as far as any of them could tell, with no sign of walls of other defenses. Dozens, even hundreds of small, thin roads led into it from every direction, with dozens of large, very thin buildings dotting it, built closer and closer together as they moved towards the center. The colors the locals preferred seemed to be brown, green ,and a color that looked almost like tree bark but not quite. Exceptions seemed to be pink streamers from a few of the larger buildings.

The people, as Harry and the others had expected thanks to Master Fay, were humans. They wore traditional spacer clothing for the most part, though with far less variety, and seemed to favor long hair, men and women. They also had tattoos which looked much like what Master Quinlan wore, even the children they could see. And there were thousands of them, many thousands, moving around the city. The entire city seemed to be a bazaar. Almost everywhere they looked something was being sold, with no organization they could see.

However, the Jedi could also sense that outsiders were not welcome. Quinlan, the best of them at infiltration, immediately noticed that there were seven types of tattoos. The one which resembled the yellow Kiffar tattoo across his nose were the second most numerous. The others were dark purple bars around the neck and eyes, which seemed to denote children, women, and the owners of the stalls. Three others, green, red, and blue, were not nearly as represented. The people wearing those tattoos also wore their hair differently, and their skin color was just slightly different enough to be noticeable.

None of the colors of the locals matched that of the Jedi. Realizing this, the group of Jedi pulled back to the outskirts while Aayla and Quinlan moved around the other three and used the Force to alter their appearance to include tattoos which matched Quinlan's. "On you it looks good, Master Fay," he quipped, looking somewhat sheepish at marring the ancient Jedi's face.

"Thank you," Fay replied absentmindedly, looking up as Lily returned from scouting around for them. "Did you notice anything?"

"There's some small-sale pushing and shoving among the groups, but I don't have your Jedi skill with languages. I'd say they are acting more like rival gangs than competing nationalities, but that could just be an impression. The purples are the most numerous and seem to be kept inviolate, or at least none of them were involved in the shoving matches."

Now that they looked more like the locals, the Jedi dropped their Force Cloaks and moved forward, with Micah taking the lead to find them a place to set up shop. Despite their new cosmetic changes, however, they still drew stares, though not because they didn't seem to fit.

Instead, it was Aayla and Fay who drew attention. Despite their disguises, both women were still gorgeous, neither having even considered changing their appearance to a great extent. Fay looked like a woman of indeterminate age, but her angular face, unmarked by blemish, her long hair, a blonde-brown that was rare among the locals, and a body that, despite being clad in Jedi robes, was very attractive, stood out regardless. Only her lips, thin and no-nonsense, kept away the admirers.

Aayla drew even more attention. She was younger, of what the locals obviously thought prime marriageable age, and her face was just as beautiful as Fay's. Her hair, a wig she had conjured up, was dark brown, covering her lekku and the top of her head, combining with a skin color and tattoo to match the locals. She wore her normal tight fitting shirt and leggings, her Jedi robe more a cloak on her shoulders. In other words, she was enough to turn the heads of any man near her own age and did as they moved through the city.

And while Fay could keep off the admirers with an expression, Aayla eventually had to resort to the Force, making herself slowly disappear from their attention. Harry laughed at her through their mental link occasionally, but there was some rueful sympathy there too, which made her feel better. The fact he also allowed her to handle it entirely on her own made her feel a lot better about herself.

On the other hand, Quinlan fit in so well it was as if he was moving around the city under Force Cloak, except he could interact with the locals. Between them, Quinlan and Micah had a good idea of the local worth of their goods within half an hour, as well as what they wanted to buy in turn.

Quinlan and Harry started to scour the city for what they needed in terms of tech the locals could provide, which was precious little. After the fourth local store they came to which didn't have anything they needed, Harry shook his head. "We won't find any droid parts or anything mechanical here, I don't think. We might need to start thinking about ways of making our own."

"Your transfiguration skills?" Quinlan asked, not arguing the point. He'd been on far more mission to worlds like this one than Harry and knew if they couldn't find even a few of the computer or droid parts they wanted in an entire city like this one, they weren't liable to find them anywhere on the planet.

"No. I can create metals and things, but actual computer parts or robot units? No. Maybe if I had the disparate minerals on hand, but even then it would be hit or miss. Quality control would be a big issue," Harry said dryly. "Although…" Harry frowned in thought. "I could put droid bits and pieces together into a working format, at least, and do the same with other things via the Reparo technique. But I'd need a starting point."

The two men moved on in silence until Harry stopped, staring at a shop that was well away from the others. This might be because of the smell of the store's goods: fertilizer, a lot of it. "If we can't fulfill one of our needs here, we have to at least fill one of the others. Master Fay might not have Master Ti's way with plants, but between us all we might be able to come up with a very nice hydroponics section rather quickly with the right starting point."

Quinlan nodded slowly. "That's a start, at least. Not where I wanted us to start, but needs must."

The trip to the planet was largely uneventful, thankfully. A good start to their larger mission, everyone agreed afterward. While Micah sold their own goods, Aayla and Harry used the local currency this gave them to buy out all the fertilizer in the city one store after another, with Quinlan using the Force to muddy the sellers' memories just enough so that they couldn't realize two people had done so. After each store they had to transport it back to Fay's ship in packed containers, and then onto the _Tyrant's Bane_. There Alecto and a few of the repaired droids took them, letting the two lovers return to the surface for their next batch. It wasn't interesting work, but it was necessary if they wanted to be self-sufficient going forward.

Their second day, while Fay and Lily started to buy seeds of all sorts, Harry had the idea of also gathering water, buying several large water containers, each the size of which could sustain a village. While he could create water, the technique was more pulling the water out of the air. If there was no moisture in the air, like in space, then the technique failed. "And this way we can even have enough to have maybe half real showers occasionally," he had said, which sold all the others on the idea.

At the same time, Quinlan scoured the city for mechanical wiring, power cells, lights, anything and everything that could be turned to their purposes that wouldn't force him to cannibalize from the thirty or so droid fighters they still had aboard, none of which were actually in one piece any longer. The Jedi had already used all the supplies of such they had in the Force-enlarged cargo holds while connecting the Hypercom Array which Master Dooku had claimed from the slaver base where Aayla had met with the two Dark Sisters. They had the space available now for the hydroponics garden, but building it and, above all, lighting it would be tough. After a few hours he began to branch out to other cities, using one of the starfighters to move around the planet, leaving Fay's ship to Harry and Aayla.

It took several days, but eventually the Jedi were satisfied that they had gathered as much as they could from the planet. Any more, Quinlan warned, and they would impact the local economy negatively, something none of them wanted even if the material he had scrounged up would be barely be enough to light and power the hold designated for the farms.

Soon after the last trip down to the planet, Micah called the Jedi together on the bridge once more. As the others entered he smiled faintly, looking at the expressions on their faces, which were much more relieved than they had been the last time he'd seen them a few minutes ago. "I take it your attempts to use the Force to deaden the smell of the fertilizer worked?"

"That and some cleaning techniques on Master Fay's ships and the containers, plus some actual floral sprays, Master Giiett," Harry replied happily. He and Aayla, of course, had deadened their noses during the time they had been transporting the fertilizer, but doing so all the time would have been tedious at best.

"Harry did really well there, actually. The cargo hold where we've stored everything still smells, but we even banished the smell from the route we took and from our clothing," Alecto added, before he shook his head ruefully. "But while this is most un-Jedi of me, I am not looking forward to working on the actual hydroponics.

"That's odd. I would have thought you'd be rather good with plants," Lily said, looking down at Alecto from where she hovered over the captain's chair, where Master Fay had sat when they entered the room. For this jump it would be Giiett who sat at the navigation station, while the others formed an oval between them. They had learned that, for some reason, this physical formation helped the mental gestalt retain cohesion during their attempts to discover their route going forward.

"I'm sorry, but why would you think that?" Alecto asked, his face showing confusion.

"Well, you have a green thumb, don't you?" Lily asked innocently, then laughed as Harry, Micah, and Quinlan all groaned. The other three just looked blank, and Lily sighed. "I suppose that should teach me to use phrases like that. Anyway, are we going to be jumping out right away?"

"No," Fay and Micah said as one, causing the others laugh. But it was Fay who continued after a moment. "Micah and I have analyzed the distances involved, and after this system we will move out of range of our Hypercom network **.** I think we should all take the day to contact anyone within the greater Republic that we wish to now. We have no idea how long this will take, but we can make an estimate, and we might be gone for five years or more."

"My, that is a most un-Jedi like concept," Lily teased, using the same phrase that Alecto had used before.

"Perhaps, but this will also allow us to touch base one last time with the High Council," Micah supplied. "I want to give them a report about what we've been running into and get an update about a mission I left undone when I came on this mission. And if whoever is out there is listening in, having each of you make calls would help muddy the issue, so long as we don't give any details."

Fay, of course, knew what Micah was talking about, as did Harry and Aayla. Furthermore, there was little reason to keep it a secret, given their long term mission at present. Yet speaking obliquely about the issue had become second nature to Micah and Tholme both.

After that the Jedi took turns in the communication room, set apart from the bridge for this purpose. Redoing the wiring to connect the ship's internal communications to the Hypercom Array hadn't been all that difficult, though like all such tasks it had been time consuming.

Micah went first, contacting not the High Council, but the planet Cimaroon, a planet in the Mid Rim settled during one of the colonization eras. The reason for this became apparent when, after he spoke to the operator on the other end for a few moments, the face of Master Tholme came up. "Master Tholme. Myself and the mission I am leading are about to step into the unknown. We will be out of communication for quite a while, and I wanted to check in with you, my friend. How goes plumbing that particular current we spoke of the last time we talked?"

Tholme quirked his lips wryly, but replied in like kind. "It goes poorly. The current comes from many different tributaries, and we have to find the one true stream to find the source of the river. As yet, none of my travels have yielded that information. Instead, each time we come upon more tributaries. Some of them are dead ends. Others end in waterfalls or merge into other streams. A series of streams in particular led out into the desert, but alas, that stream was closed down with finality some time back. I understand that a certain sadly deceased compatriot of ours had something to do with that."

"I see. That's disappointing. And what about clearing up the air?" Micah asked, referencing the ongoing task to root out spies or corruption in the Hypercom Relay System.

"No luck there either. Our air purifiers have yet to come online. The Order is balking at the expense, though that could be because of outside pressure."

"So, no change since the last time we spoke?" Giiett said, while beside him and out of the pickup range Alecto frowned as he tried to translate what the two were talking about.

"Not on this issue, no. In broader news, Master Ranicisis has called off the campaign against the Black Sun remnants. We are not certain we have found them all, of course: given the size of the Republic, that would be impossible. But we have found thousands of bases and more corrupt officials. We have also made a point of putting behind bars as many of the criminal thugs as possible. I understand it's becoming increasingly difficult on many planets for the local criminals to find thugs for their daily operations. The Chancellor's attempt to revamp the judicial code of the Republic and the Senate in particular has yielded some results, but not nearly as much as he had hoped. And corruption and simple vote selling are still major issues within the Senate. I am afraid that, at least, will be a long term operation, and one we Jedi are becoming increasingly poor aid in."

"Why is that?" Giiett asked, honestly puzzled.

"The Order is now being seen as busybodies and outsiders sticking their noses in. 'If it works, why are you trying to fix it?' is a phrase I have heard far too often of late," Tholme replied. "But for more information on that you would need to get in touch with Master Gallia."

"I am afraid that is not going to happen. Still, I hope that you have better luck going forward on both those projects while I am out of communication."

"Yes, your humanitarian mission. I could wish that Master Fay had thought of some other way to use that giant ship of hers, but then again, if she had, she would not be Master Fay. Good luck bringing the good word to the barbarians out there," Tholme said, his tone as ironic as his words, but with his face serious.

"We can only go as the Force wills us," Micah said serenely. "And to my knowledge, no one ever said being a Jedi would be easy, nor that the course the Force sets us safe."

"Indeed. Now, may I speak with my former apprentice? I understand he was assigned to aid you?"

"Yes, he is here." With that Micah and Quinlan changed seats. The discussion between the Shadow Jedi and the Shadow-in-training, however, relied entirely on old missions to impart meaning, causing Alecto and Micah to both lose the ability to follow the conversation. Waiting for their turn from nearby, Aayla was able to translate for Harry somewhat, but even she quickly lost the flow of the conversation.

Their conversation went into detail on the campaign against organized crime which had started after their mission to find and rescue the Nabooans from the slavers, but also spoke about the ongoing mission to find out more about Hego Damask and the Sith that Master Windu had killed on Naboo. But in the end, the discussion ended the same way, with no real clues about their origins having been found yet. Eventually the two wound down and turned to more personal matters, which ended with Tholme wishing for the Force to be with them all.

Then it was Master Fay's turn, who wished to speak to Master Yoda before they were too far away. But whereas Tholme and Quinlan had spoken at length, the two ancient Jedi were mostly silent. The feel of the Force in the little communication chamber seemed to thrum, and all the other Jedi waiting outside for their turn realized that the two of them were somehow communing via the Force despite the monstrous distance between them.

 _Such skill, to be able to speak over that great a distance with the Force. No wonder Master Fay was a legend among the Order even before she met young Harry,_ Micah mused.

Eventually the silent tableau was broken by Master Fay smiling a serene smile at the other Jedi Master. "Be well and trust in the Light side of the Force, Master Yoda. It has not forsaken us, whatever the Veil might attempt to fool us into thinking."

"Hrhrhrm. See you again in person, I will not," Yoda said, sighing faintly, his image in the pickup dipping slightly. "Sadness at that do I feel. But your course, that which the Force wills. May it be with you and all those with you."

"And with you, Grand Master," Fay said, still smiling as she cut the connection and exiting the room. She smiled as she felt the concern of Harry and the others, making no mention of what had passed between her and Yoda. "Next?"

Alecto took the next opportunity, though he could not actually contact who he wanted to: the other member of the former Clan Saa. Such would have smacked far too much of his having formed attachments to them beyond that of friends, which in turn would not have been looked on favorably by the Order.

The same was true of Quinlan. Indeed, if the Order had learned he had formed an attachment, especially given how close he and the individual in question had walked to the Dark at one point, it was entirely possible that the Order would have ordered them to cease any interaction. However, given that the individual he wanted to talk to was on Serenno and had to explain her actions to no one at present, they got away with it. _My padawan would tease me something fierce for this if she ever found out, but it is worth it_ , he thought as the image of Komari Vosa appeared on the pickup.

Their discussion was brief but meaningful, and then finally it was Harry and Aayla's turn. Like Alecto, the two of them could really not contact most of the individuals they wanted to: their friends among the Order. However, they did have some friends outside the Order they could more easily contact. One of which they had been in contact with every month or so since they had set out on this mission.

Moments after connecting to Naboo, Aayla and Harry smiled into the pickup at Padmé. "Hello, you two. How goes your trip into the hinterlands?" Padmé had not been told where Harry and the others were going or why. All she knew was that they were well and heck out there and moving further away from even the Hypercom network, which was one of the things which made the Republic actually work at all. That was worrying enough without any more details.

"Well enough so far. But this might be the last time we're going to be able to link up to the Hypercom," Harry said, taking the lead in the conversation at a mental nudge from Aayla. "So we wanted to check in with you one last time and ask how everything on Naboo is going. A slice of normality before we head into the abnormal, as it were."

"Heh. Your concern is duly noted and reciprocated, my friends. On the home front, repairs have nearly finished in my capital. The repurposing of the Lucrehulk ship we were rewarded as a system defense ship is done and its shields brought back online. We are still debating what to add to it in terms of offense, but that's a debate that I will cheerfully leave to the House of Commons and my military advisers. The Wookies and I have finalized our trade agreements. I have also begun to work with the sector senator who replaced Chancellor Palpatine. He isn't Nabooan, but I think we can work with him," Padmé said, holding up a hand and ticking off points on her fingers.

Then she let her hand fall out of the pickup and leaned forward. "Oh, and Eirtae says she is going to throttle you the next time she sees you, Aayla. Why you gave Chewie the idea that my Wookie guards should train my maids up to their standards in both combat and engineering is beyond me, but they are enthusiastic, if nothing else."

Aayla giggled, which sent Padmé into chuckles as well, while Harry rolled his eyes. "Tell that giant throw rug not to be so hard on them, would you? I'd prefer you to have friends close by rather than let their enthusiasm for that kind of thing drive them away."

"Bah!" Padmé replied, waving her hand airily. "It's good for them. Besides, I like the exercise. These days I can actually get away every weekend for a few hours training. Otherwise the most workout I would get would be to carry my clown suit around, and I blame you for that name for my formal robes sticking in my head Harry. Going up and down stairs is particularly irritating."

"You're the queen, Padmé. I'm sure if you put your foot down enough with sufficient force that you could get them to change your formal robes to something more…good looking? Mobile? Less of a farce?" Ayala said, slowing as she tried to come up with a single word that correctly described the truly bizarre clothing the queen of Naboo had to wear when acting in a formal setting.

"Now, now, dear, I think it's more important that Padmé saves her tantrums for more important things," Harry cut in mockingly.

"Tantrums?" Padmé drew herself up, pasting a look of cool hauteur on her face. "I will have you know, Harry Potter, that **I** am a queen. Queens do not have to resort to tantrums to get things done; we simply command, and our peons obey."

She held that pose for a moment before she broke down, laughing with her two friends. Friends who had become as dear to her as Sab **é** and the others, for all that they had not met in more than a year in person. The memory of their time on Kashyyyk was one of her most treasured memories, even if she was still wondering why the two of them had been so welcoming.

The three of them talked for around twenty minutes, simply exchanging stories, funny moments, and other things since they had last spoken. Eventually however it became time for them to sign off, as evinced by Lily poking her head through the wall and informing the two lovers of this. The three fell silent, then Padmé sighed. "How long do you think you'll be out of contact?"

"We have no idea, really. Three years to five is our best guess," Aayla said, wincing. That would be a long time to be out of contact with everyone, let alone their friends such as the rest of Clan Saa and Padmé.

"Ah." Padmé too winced. "I am very sorry to hear that. These conversations have been both a balm and an aid to me at times. Your good humor and your good sense have helped me equally. Even some of the homilies you shared with me. What was that one, 'a leader's first job is to see the world as it is, not as she wishes it to be?'"

"Yes, that was it, though I think I said, 'as he wished it to be'," Harry said dryly.

"That's sexist," Aayla said, pushing her lover's shoulder. Then they both fell silent, smiling into the pickup once more. "May the Light of the Force be with you, Padmé Amidala. Stay safe, and stay well," Aayla said, with Harry nodding agreement beside her.

Though she was confused by the odd wording, Padmé understood what it meant and nodded. "And the same to you, my friends. Come back to m… Come back to **us** as soon as you can." With that the trio cut the connection. After a few moments alone, the two padawans sighed and, holding hands, left the room, heading to the bridge.

The two of them joined the others, and, working together once more, they found the next jump forward through the nebulae. They jumped twice more that day rather than take breaks for training. This would allow the two Masters to have the evening to meditate on their overall journey.

Alecto and Quinlan spent their evening playing a game of regicide, followed by Quinlan teaching the Duros teen how to subtly use the Force to influence games of chance. It was an underhanded use, of course, but it was surprising how often you needed such techniques when undercover. Lily joined them, offering some suggestions at purely physical means of cheating. She had apparently been something of a card shark in her youth.

To no one's surprise, Aayla and Harry did not join the other groups. They walked around the ship, sharing ideas of what they wanted to see inside the ship in the future, or ideas on how to improve it in various small ways. None of their conversation happened in the physical world: often because they were too busy kissing one another, and other times because they just didn't see the point. Eventually, however, they wound up back at their cabin.

Inside they spent some more time just kissing, basking in their connection. Then Aayla sat back, a spike of uncertainty, anticipation, and curiosity going through her. Harry wondered what his lover was planning, but had no time to ask before she had moved away, twisting them so that Harry sat on the edge of the bed with Aayla moving down to sit on the cabin's deck between his legs, her head resting on his inner thigh, her hands on his waist. "Harry, you know that, um, that thing you did with your mouth the last time you gave me a massage? I want to try the same to you."

Harry blushed hotly, remembering what Aayla was talking about vividly. She'd had a bad fall during a training session that had involved Master Quinlan and several dozen of the training balls, injuring her hip bone and bruising her rear. Harry had soothed her bones with a massage, then, feeling greatly daring, had offered to kiss the pain away. Aayla had agreed, and eventually that had ended up with Harry going down on her. It had been touch and go as Aayla instructed him more with her emotions via their link than by words, and a slow thing too, since she had been so exhausted, but it had been immensely rewarding also. She had been far too exhausted afterward to reciprocate, and they'd been pushed hard in exercises since.

Slowly Harry nodded, a desire to feel Aayla's mouth on him in such an intimate manner welling up within him followed by a desire to do the same to Aayla. He could all too clearly remember the tangy, almost tart taste of her juices on his lips and was eager to see if she was just as tasty a second time around.

 **Warning: Limey scene incoming:**

Her body shuddering at the imagery in Harry's head, Aayla shifted her hands to the top of his pants. With Harry helping, she eventually pulled down his pants to pull them around his ankles, then off along with his underwear. Tossing them behind her, Aayla turned her attention to the meat of the matter.

Given the fact they'd been kissing and caressing one another for so long, it should have come as no surprise that Harry was already erect. Yet the sight of his member so close caused Aayla a bit of a shock. She twitched backwards, staring at it intently.

Harry was about the size of three fingers around, she judged, fitting in her hand snugly, like a slightly thinner lightsaber hilt, while in length she estimated he was a few inches longer than those dry, horrible illustrations the Order used to describe male anatomy said was the norm. His member was also veiny, pulsing as Aayla raised a finger to gently rub along the underside of it. From the small opening on top of the slightly larger, bulbous head, the liquid Aayla knew was pre-cum had already begun to drip.

Moving her thump up, she caressed the tip, letting the liquid pool on the end of her thumb as the penis twitched and arced further upward, becoming slightly harder, if that was possible. _Wow._

" _Oh my God, is that how I looked when I was going down on you? This is intense, Aayla!"_ Harry sent, moaning aloud as Aayla tightened her grip on his shaft. "Go slow, love."

"Mmmmm…" Aayla returned, before licking at her thumb. That sight caused another shiver to travel down Harry's spine, heightened by Aayla suddenly smiling up at him.

"It tastes good. I didn't expect that. Then again, that shouldn't surprise me. This is all so new to us," Aayla murmured aloud, bringing her other hand over from where it had been laying on Harry's knee up his thigh to join the other that was working his member.

"True. Master Fay and my mom never went into detail on the kinds of things a couple get up to, and I doubt the Temple's instructions on anatomy ever covered sex at all. Unless they tried to do it in a 'scare them away' manner… Aayla? What's wrong?"

Harry's question was caused by a spike of unease and even disgust coming through their link. She had just run her hand from his knee to his balls. In so doing Aayla had discovered that the hair around Harry's member was not nearly as nice to the touch as the hair on top of his head. It was rather stringy, harder to the touch, and not very nice, despite Harry having had a sonic shower earlier that day.

" _Are all human males this hairy, Harry?"_ Aayla sent, then both of them laughed at the pun.

Despite that moment of levity, Harry still felt his lover's unease and replied quickly. _"I think so. I mean, yeah, I think so. Human women are too. If, if it bothers you, we can stop."_

Shuddering once, Aayla swiftly shook her head, moving forward so that she was actually breathing on the head of Harry's member, which twitched in response. _"I think it likes me… No, Harry. It, it's not that big a deal; I just wasn't expecting it to be so different. Just tell me if I'm doing anything wrong, like I did with you, okay?"_

Getting a positive response to that, Aayla began to move both her hands up and down his shaft. Despite her words, Aayla couldn't quite ignore the feel of the hairs against her hand, so she forwent any attempt to play with Harry's balls. She pumped his shaft several times, receiving nothing but nonverbal encouragement from their link while Harry moaned aloud, unable to think coherently for a moment. The pleasure was also hitting her in a somewhat low key manner through their link, the feedback loop the two of them had felt before in action here.

After a few more strokes, Aayla hesitantly leaned forward, her tongue flickering out to lick the head of the shaft, her lekku twitching in response as the pleasure Harry felt at that hit her. She giggled then and began to lick at the head and the shaft in earnest. It was like some kind of ice cream or meat stick, the texture something that she had never felt before, though she supposed her lekku came close in a way.

More pre-cum began to drip from the tiny slit, which Aayla licked up eagerly. This went on for a while, then Aayla felt ready to move on. Harry's opinion at this point was obvious from the emotions pouring down to her from their link. So after a moment's hesitation, Aayla opened her mouth and took the head of Harry's shaft into her mouth, sucking hard.

Harry hips bucked up off the bed, accidentally sending several more inches into Aayla's mouth. Her eyes widened, but she went with it, taking more than half his shaft into her mouth, licking and slurping as the pleasure once more arced into her via their link, her nipples hardening and her lekku slowly twitching. With so much of his shaft in her mouth, this left her hands to pump the rest of his shaft and once more forced her hands to come into contact with the hair around his genitalia.

She twitched at that, but Aayla was so far gone in giving pleasure and receiving a shadow of it in return to care. Instead, she was trying womanfully to force more of his shaft down her throat, actually enjoying the sensation for some reason on top of the pleasure coming to her from Harry.

It couldn't last. Jedi endurance training was never intended to carry over to carnal acts, despite Shmi's joke when they had met her on Tatooine years ago. Aayla was able to force about two-thirds of Harry's shaft into her throat, reveling in the sensation in a way she had never anticipated, when Harry pushed through the pleasure fugue of his mind to shout aloud, "Aayla, I'm going to finish soon!"

Pulling back, Aayla instinctively pumped Harry's shaft extra hard as she captured the head of Harry's dick in her mouth, feeling it pulse and spurt in her hands before a gooey, hot liquid filled her mouth to bursting. Much of it ran down her throat, but soon she had to pull back entirely, letting Harry's dick out of her mouth with a pop as she struggled to swallow.

With Harry looking down at her in something approaching euphoric shock, Aayla for some reason she could not define opened her mouth, showing Harry the cum pooling in his mouth. Then, still locking eyes with him, she swallowed, licking her lips clean.

"You taste good, Harry," she moaned, then found herself lifted up off the ground via a Force Grab and tossed onto the bed, where she bounced once more as Harry pounced on her, banishing her leggings and panties away before diving in to return the favor.

 **End Limey content**

Despite the amount of pleasure the two of them gave one another that night, however, the next morning wasn't nearly so pleasant. Harry woke up to Aayla moving around on the bed next to him, accompanied by a feeling of her wanting to keep her intentions hidden from him. This was practically impossible given the depth of their mental bond, and he cracked an eye open to see her kneeling beside his waist, a small device of some kind in her hand, which she was moving towards his crotch.

Yelping, Harry rolled away and off the bed, glaring at Aayla. "What the heck, Aayla!?"

"Oh don't be a baby Harry, it's just a depilatory device. I **really** did not like your hairs down there. Heck, I got a few of them stuck in my mouth, for goodness sake!" Aayla said aloud, reaching out to grab his arm. "Now hold still. This won't hurt a bit!"

"You must be joking! Those things hurt like nobody's business without cream. Haven't you ever seen Quinlan shaving before? Besides, did it ever occur to you that I might not want to be shaved down there? That sounds really uncomfortable," Harry rejoined.

" _You don't have to deal with it like I do if we're going to continue doing what we did last night to one another! Come on, Harry, isn't it nice to use your mouth on me like that without fear of getting hair in your mouth?"_ Aayla wheedled via their link.

Seeing Harry hesitate, she decided to push the issue, moving forward to wrap one arm around Harry's waist to keep him still. But once more her purpose came through their link, and he stepped back sharply. Then, as Aayla leaped for him, he raced toward the door to their bathroom. "Get back here, Harry!" she cried, moving after him.

 **OOOOOOO**

As the Jedi had feared, Sidious did become aware of this flurry of Hypercom signals. The bots the Sith had embedded deeply into the HRS were programmed to look for any communication that was to or from the Jedi Shadows, all of whom he knew. He also had them programmed to try and keep track of Master Fay, who had become a threat both because of the way she went about her duties as a Jedi and because of all the new techniques the woman had introduced to the Order.

Because of this, Sidious had a very good idea of where Fay was going, though not why or how she was going to get there. He eventually put into motion several methods to spy on the edge of the unknown territories there, in an effort to possibly set up a trap for Fay when she returned.

Sidious' bots, however, missed the communication with Naboo entirely. The conversation had none of the watch words they were programmed to look for, and by this point the communication between the unknown link and Naboo was well known, so none of the bots tagged it as unusual.

However, Sidious had little time to actually devote to figuring out what Fay and her party was doing. He was beginning to do two things that would help in the long term plan to wipe out the Jedi. One was consolidating more powers into the Senate, in an effort ostensibly to cut down on corruption and bureaucracy, which was prevalent throughout the Republic. This would also allow him to slowly start building up the opposition forces he would need to then gather those powers to his personal position as Chancellor. The end of the Great Plan was close; he could feel it.

 **OOOOOOO**

The Jedi aboard the _Tyrant's Bane_ had fallen into a routine before they had left behind the last sign of the Republic, heading into the unchartable corridor around Ruusan. Finding a way forward took so much out of the Jedi that they could only do it as a group, and only three jumps at a time, regardless of range, before they were too mentally exhausted to continue.

So they had come up with a schedule to make the most out of every day. They would first have breakfast, then Fay would teach them some meditation techniques to help build their awareness of the world around them, making the jumps easier to calculate as the trip went on. This was followed by Harry helping the others with the new Force techniques, while at the same time all the padawans, and even Quinlan, were asked ethical questions by the two Masters on how and when they should use the Force or simply the mind. Lily would then take over with Fay, instructing the others in runes.

Quinlan and Micah didn't make as much headway as either could wish on transfiguration and conjuration, but became far better at the Reducto and Bombarda techniques. Aayla, however, became almost as good at transfiguration as Harry was, while also raising her Force Telekinesis to another level. And all of them, including Alecto, were very happy with their project in runes.

After those exercises they would jump once more, followed by physical exercises and Master Giiett teaching them all other things, just as if they were still younglings, followed immediately by a third jump and dinner. After that the group would work on the various projects around the ship, of which there were many.

Spending all their time onboard a ship and in the deep dark, it soon became the projects which really allowed them to realize how much time had truly passed. The first real breakthrough there came from Quinlan several months after they left the HRS behind:

"So… What are we looking at here?" Lily asked, floating between the various sand boxes in the room and looking from them to the astromech droids standing by each box and Quinlan. _This can't be what I think it is… Oh, but if it is, the results could be…_

"This, Mistress Lily, is the result of me asking myself a question: do all the runes in an array need to be written out by a Jedi in order for the array to work? The answer is no. I took the four astromech droids we had onboard and programmed them to follow the examples of the runes Master Fay had written out, and then started to work with the lighting array, removing myself from the construction one rune at a time," Quinlan said, a certain amount of un-Jedi-like pride on his face. "It turns out we need to etch out the first rune and the following power runes, the ones that actually take in the Force for the array, but that's all."

Lily and Fay promptly began to question Quinlan about his programming of the droids and his methodology, while Aayla beamed at her master, and Harry began to question the droids themselves. Droids could, of course, be programmed to do fine detail work to a degree that most sentients would have trouble matching, so if they could really be programmed to do rune work, that was going to be a major help for their larger projects. _Of course we'll have to make certain that the droids aren't allowed to leave the ship, but that's a minor detail._

Harry, Aayla, Fay, and Quinlan began to work with the droids immediately the next day, breaking from the routine to get the work done. Once the last rune was done, the array activated, lines of sharp yellow power leading off in every direction, the third of the eight cargo holds of the _Tyrant's Bane_ expanding as they watched. A moment later they were in darkness, the only light a small area around the hold's entrance. Quinlan looked around into the darkness and chuckled. "Um, I think we did not think this through."

"Hmm, needing to write each power consuming array as we go is going to be an issue yeah. For now," Harry said, holding up a hand and conjuring a flame above them, "let's start our way back. I can already hear my mum warning us about being trapped here again."

Not all such experiments went well, of course. One such experiment, done after they had finished creating their massive, would-be hydroponics garden, that did not start out well at all was sparked by Aayla. "I wonder if we can use the Force to try and accelerate the growth of these plants?"

"We should be able to, though I have never used the technique before," Master Fay murmured, dreaming of what a farmland this size could mean in the future not only to them, but to any needy planet they came upon. "Did Knight Ti ever describe the technique?"

"She did, though she never actually taught me. Still, it should be easy enough," Aayla said confidently, leaning down to touch the soil of the garden beneath their feet. At her request Harry moved to join her

Seconds later she and Harry quickly backed away as a tree exploded out of the earth, moving from sapling to ancient tree within seconds before collapsing to the side with a booming crash as it aged to death. "Too much power?" Lily quipped.

"Too much power," both padawans replied ruefully.

Master Fay had a little more luck. She was easily able to measure the amount of power needed, but somehow she treated the plant the first time as if it was a living animal, somehow imparting to the plant a semblance of life. The plant showed this after it burst out of the ground next to the downed tree. Its vines—it was a local ground crawling bush which was supposed to have something like a strawberry on it—reached for Master Fay and the others, forcing them to jump back. "Now, how did I do that, I wonder?"

Her mishaps continued from there, somehow the plants attaining a measure of sentience from her Force touch. "This is hilarious," Lily declared after the third such attempt. "If I ever needed proof you really weren't an elf, this is it."

"Oh, hahaha," Fay drawled, rolling her eyes at her best friend cum semi-lover. "Were you any better with plants?"

"Ha, me? No, God no. I was good with potions, the end result of plants, so to speak, but I think I killed my mother's rose garden so often trying to help, it gave Petty Petunia a complex," Lily retorted.

Watching his two mothers, Harry cocked his head. _So that's how it is, is it? Well, I have to say I don't know how that would really work, but I suppose I'm happy for them. I hope they are happy together too._

They did eventually, however, come up with the proper Force technique to encourage the seeds they had planted to grow appropriately, with no additional life to them beyond an occasional twitch in an unfelt wind. This gave them a ready supply of spices, grains, and fruit, though they would need to eventually add some meat animals too for added protein.

Of course there were other ways to note the passage of time than just their various projects and their various visits to the planets they came upon along their route. The progression of Harry and Aayla's relationship was one of them.

Masters Fay and Micah had decided that everyone should get a day off after the group had successfully finished work on third hold, the last one they had enough parts to light and power, and thus the last one they would be working on for a long while. It had been a very busy few months finishing up the wiring for the third hanger, redistributing the parts, and moving things into it. So despite their training, all the Jedi, including the two Masters, were eager to spend a day simply drifting in the deep black between stars.

Micah, Alecto, and Quinlan spent the day reading or playing Sabaac together. Lily and Fay spent the day with the two young lovers, then split off after lunch to simply talk in Master Fay's room.

For their part Harry and Aayla spent the entire day together. After their parental figures broke off, the two of them traveled around the ship, not saying anything aloud, but occasionally kissing or hugging, all the while flirting with one another via their mental link. At dinner time they did not join the others, instead having a private dinner in their room, which Harry had prepared via his cooking skills and judicious use of transfiguration. Aayla had decided that she was ready to take the final step in their relationship, and Harry was determined to make the whole evening as special as he possibly could.

He succeeded admirably. Aayla was practically floating on air next to him as they finished cleaning up after the meal. Then she smiled, pushing Harry down to sit on the edge of their bed before backing away, her hands going up to her cloak, which she tossed to one side.

 **Warning Limey moment:**

As Harry watched, his mouth drying, Aayla began to wound around the room, her moves so sensual it set his heart to racing. She slowly removed her clothing piece by piece, ordering Harry to remove his own. He did so, simply waving his hands and banishing his clothing off his body save for his underwear so as to not take his eyes off her. Their bond throbbing with love and desire, neither could concentrate enough to actually send one another words as Aayla removed her last article of clothing, leaving her standing in front of a nearly naked Harry.

For a moment they simply looked at one another, the bond between them literally singing with desire, love, and a certain amount of anticipatory tension. Harry had not added much in terms of height over the years since they had been on Naboo, still standing around six feet two inches. He had, however, grown into his frame, a process that wasn't finished yet, but was well on its way now, with wide shoulders and a well-muscled frame complete with a trim waist. Which, Aayla was pleased to note, showed no sign of any hair. His face had lost what little fat it had, becoming thinner, marked by lips which readily quirked into a smile or a laugh, complete with dimples. From there Aayla's eyes flicked down, seeing the visible reaction to her little show, a tent standing up proudly from Harry's underwear.

Aayla had grown up in far more obvious ways. She had shot up in height, becoming around six feet. Her bust size had also increased to a low C-cup. They stood out proudly on her chest without a hint of sag, her purple nipples standing out proudly from the small dime sized areola around them. Below that Harry's eyes tracked down to her extremely trim, flat stomach, and down further to the petals of her flower. It too was purple, as Harry had already known. The petals of her flower were visibly engorged, pulsing, almost, under Harry's gaze, and he could see nectar already pulling there, dripping down her thighs.

Harry held out a hand, and Aayla took it, letting Harry guide her forward to sit on his lap, his erection trapped between them for a moment as they kissed. They kissed slowly, languidly, lovingly. Neither wanted to rush this night; they just wanted to **feel.** Eventually Aayla pulled back, moving her arms from around Harry to push him back to lie flat on the bed. Crawling after him until she crouched over him, Aayla wound one hand down, removing his boxers. She gleefully found then that Harry had thankfully continued to follow up on her suggestions to shave down there. _Thank you, Harry,_ she thought at him gratefully, unwilling to break their liplock..

Eventually, though, they did need to breathe. "I love you, Aayla," Harry said aloud, whispering the words against Aayla's lips as he also said them through their link, his hands falling from her back to wind down to her hips. Aayla replied in like manner, then reached down a guiding hand as Harry pulled her to him…

 **End limey moment**

And so life went on aboard the _Tyrant's Bane_. Elsewhere, life and its accompanying events also proceeded apace.

 **OOOOOOO**

Master Ranicisis stared around at the other High Council members. It was rare these days that this many of them were in the temple at one time, and he knew that there was no doubt going to be some kind of debate now that Master Bilaba was due to be rotated out. One lone wintry eyebrow rising in query, he decided to confront the issue quickly. "Good evening one and all. I take it there is some topic you wish to bring up to the Council?"

For a moment there was silence, then Eeth Koth spoke up. He looked serene, but the other Jedi could feel that that serenity was only on the surface. "The separate training center on Serenno is becoming a divisive point. The techniques being taught there and on the training frigate under Master Saa are not spreading fast enough through the Order from the top down. More padawans are learning them, becoming…emotional and imaginative. There are questions, questions being asked about the Oath, about the nature of the techniques, and many, **many** Masters and Knights are becoming…disgruntled. It has taken time to build up as the techniques have spread and more people discover they cannot learn them for whatever reason, but it has now."

The training center at Serenno was set up to have classes of one youngling clan, up to eighty children, along with fifteen or so unassigned padawans and thirty to forty Masters and Knights at a time for retraining in lightsaber skills. The groups would be rotated in or out once they learned what were being called the main three and once their lightsaber training was done. The Masters could, if the teachers agreed, leave before they learned the techniques and their lightsaber training had reached an acceptable level. This process could take as short as three months, as had been the case for the youngling clan Padawans Potter and Secura had taught, or as long as a year. The lightsaber retraining process could take even longer.

Before the training clan had been created, Clan Saa had shared their techniques on a very ad hoc basis, all while under the watchful, even censorious, eye of the Council of Knowledge. While word of the techniques had spread quickly through the Order, and a surprising number of younglings, padawans and knights had learned one or other of the main three, the others had often eluded individual Jedi, to say nothing of some of the other techniques that Master Ti had taught a few other Knights and Masters over the years since she had taken up permanent residence on Serenno. This was made worse by the fact that the more set in their ways a Jedi was, the more certain in the Force, as many would put it, the harder they found the new techniques to learn.

There were over 11,000 Jedi in the Order. Upwards of eight thousand of them were Consulars. The vast majority of Consulars used Niman, the lightsaber technique derided as 'Jack of all trades, master of none,' which had been directly linked to Jedi deaths in the field. Even though the Temple was also running a retraining program, the process was slow and painful.

More than half the Council agreed with that, with Master Poof taking point. "I have been approached by several hundred Consular Masters and Knights over the past few months. Many believe the Consular class is being demeaned, almost denigrated, by the push to retrain their lightsaber skills. And many of them are very, very concerned about the amount of, of imagination and emotion that seem to be needed to make the most of the new techniques. They complain, rightly, I feel, that it gets in the way of their connection to the Force, to the balance that must be at the heart of any Jedi's ability to perform his missions."

Poof looked seriously at Yoda, Koon, and the others who had learned the new techniques, whereas he, Tiin, and several others had not been able to. "If we could bring them here to the Temple, teach them here, then we could combat some of that. This way, it seems as if we ourselves do not truly trust the people teaching it or learning the techniques in the first place."

As Grandmaster, Yoda normally would allow the others to have their say on something like this before he gave his own opinion. However here he spoke up quickly, shaking his ancient head. "No. Meditated on this point I have. New techniques, a danger they are, if not as you describe. Feed arrogance, pride they do if we are not careful. Further, a danger there still is. If taught here on Coruscant, the new techniques, aid in spreading the Dark Side as much as the Force."

Yoda could also have mentioned the runic training area and wanting to control access to that subject as much as possible. But with Fay gone, only Shaak Ti knew anything about them, and Knight Ti had refused point blank to teach anyone else without Lily or Fay around to vet them. A fact that Master Yoda had discovered via closed courier message, thanks to the growing concern about the HRS, and this was a decision he wholeheartedly agreed with. _Even if this old canine, desire to learn new tricks he does._

"We are in danger of seeing a split within the Order," Master Koth said, backing up the other Master and drawing Yoda's mind back to the present. "These techniques are being spread throughout the Order at an ever increasing speed, but they are being spread by the younglings and padawans for the most part! And both groups that come out of the training center are changed: more emotional and less devoted to the Oath of the Order. Many of them have evinced a desire to take the Old Oath as the members of Clan Saa have to a sentient."

Master Poof nodded, while Gallia indicated agreement too. "That is a **very** bad precedent, especially since in a few years we will see many of those padawans going through with that statement. And all of this doesn't even consider the change last year about allowing physical relationships! We need to control the training center further if we do not move the training here to the Temple. Perhaps add a class on the Oath and why balance and serenity is more necessary to a Jedi than emotions."

"Going to join Master Ti and Knight Vosa I will be, replacing Master Bilaba," Yaddle said, smiling serenely. "A High Council member, there at all times there has been. Continue to be the case it will. Attempt to show the padawans and younglings the proper path we will. Suffice that will for the concerns?"

The discussion continued from there, but Yaddle's suggestion had taken some of the starch out of the other team, since she, while having learned some of the new techniques, hadn't embraced them and was a strong proponent of the Oath as it was administered today rather than the Old Oath. Tiin and Ranicisis also spoke up in favor of the training center, mentioning the survey that had been done linking the lightsaber styles to Jedi deaths. Having a separate retraining center, they argued, was simply good sense, adding to the seriousness of the retraining. And since the existing Council of Knowledge had failed to embrace the new techniques, why try to instigate a fight on that point when the alternative was working?

Yoda let them all talk, leaning back and removing himself from the discussion entirely now that Yaddle had stepped forward on his side of the argument. He knew that Ranicisis would keep the training center going, just as he had the learning frigates: because the Thisspassian, like Yoda, Windu, and several others, understood that the Dark Side was still gathering strength, the Brotherhood was still out there, and the Order was still in danger.

Though none of the High Council seemed to have realized the implications of what Yoda's meditations about the future if they taught the new techniques here on Coruscant really meant. _If danger there still is of bringing the teachings here to Coruscant, then an enemy within the Order we might have. Search for him, I must. My task that will be._

 **OOOOOOO**

Master Windu knew his strengths and weaknesses as a Jedi Master and as a warrior. In fact, the honesty with which he addressed those weaknesses turned them almost into strengths. Therefore, while most Master would have been leery of letting their padawan fly them, he allowed Anakin to be their pilot on missions that may or may not involve high-speed space chases or combat.

Their specially modified Delta-6 Sprite had room for two plus the astromech droid, which had been given to Anakin by the queen of Naboo as payment for his service years ago. It was armed with two forward facing lasers and a six magazine proton torpedo 'box' launcher. The term 'box launcher' in this case meant that Anakin had modified the proton torpedo launchers so that they could launch the full spread of the starfighter in one long wave rather than having to fire them in dual launches. It would burn out the launcher and damage the ship, but if they ran into a capital ship that they needed to bring down quickly it would prove its worth, Anakin was sure. Mace wasn't, but then he preferred to put his faith in the Force and in people rather than mechanics.

"Space traffic control, this is Daran and Colrain of the Ultrafighters. You should have us in your books, so please don't let anyone get itchy trigger fingers," Anakin said into the pickup, his voice sounding cocky, brash, and arrogant.

 _Not that that is much of a stretch for Anakin,_ Mace thought ruefully. For all his efforts, Anakin still could be an arrogant little so-and-so at times. _If only he didn't prove to live up to his own arrogant view of himself most of the time, it would be much easier to polish that out of him._

His eyes closed as he began to meditate on their mission. Mace allowed Anakin to handle the conversation with the local space traffic controller, knowing that the youth had their identities straight for this mission. Such was the danger of their target running away the instant she knew that the Jedi were looking for her, that they couldn't come in officially. Instead their identity was that of a scout team for a mercenary guild coming in to see if this planet had any local contracts. The mercenary company in question, the Ultrafighters, were known to have a variety of different starfighter designs among their group and to be primarily a fast assault and elite strike group. Indeed, they were one of the more reputable mercenary groups out there. _Which, of course, means nothing at all. But at least the identities will convince anyone who looks at our arrival that we are who we say we are._

Moments later the starfighter was cutting through the atmosphere, and Mace opened his eyes. "I sense much danger about this mission," he said without preamble. "We will have to be on our guard."

"More Yinchorri, master? They do tend to dog our steps," Anakin said, his voice a mixture of dusty dry sarcasm and humor.

"Not so much, recently, though I am still concerned about how they had any idea where we would be on that last mission," Mace replied, his stern features becoming even harder.

"I still say it was because of that homing device I found on our Consular class ship we used last time. Artoo did a great job noticing and disabling the little thing," Anakin said, while the droid in question let loose a cheerful beep-boop noise from behind Mace.

"Perhaps, but how did they get that bug there in the first place?" countered Mace.

"Easy. That first time we tussled with them we had to wait for a ship to be sent to us to take us back to Coruscant. So a few of them were ordered not to attack us, and instead they bogged our ship while we were still dealing with the locals. It was the same ship we were assigned the last two missions, master," Anakin said with a smile. "You don't have to complicate everything. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the real ones."

"And you do not need to try to simplify everything to the point where you dismiss complicated matters too much to see the whole picture," Mace retorted, but there was a smile on his face.

In the years since he had taken Anakin as his apprentice, the boy had grown, and had grown on Mace in many ways. The boy was still arrogant at times and headstrong, but it had been tampered with experience, and Mace had infused in him a certain calm acceptance of the Force. He was powerful in the Force, a dedicated student, and understood the Force far better than most his age could boast, though, there again, the fact that he did boast about it was a decided negative. His skills in piloting and mechanics were also incredible, making Anakin one of the best light starfighter pilots in the Order despite his young age. His skill with mechanics was also very sought after, as evidenced by their souped-up starfighter.

They had also worked out quite a bit of the anger that had boiled within the boy at slavery and other such things. Allowing him to contact his mother occasionally had worked wonders, though he was still, generally speaking, unpolished, and seemed to have a rather decided interest in the ladies.

As they exited their starfighter, Mace leaped down, turning to look at Anakin as he followed quickly. Anakin had changed greatly, not only mentally but physically, over the past few years, while Mace had pretty much stayed the same, save for the first signs of wrinkles on his face. Many of which, Mace knew, Anakin had caused at certain points during the years.

But Anakin had changed greatly. He was more than a foot and a half taller than he had been, grown into a teenage body with wide shoulders, well-muscled, with the typical swordsman's build. He wore his simple brown and black pants and shirt easily, moving with all the athleticism of a trained lightsaber duelist. His face, too, had grown. Gone was the baby fat, and in its place was a strong, teenage face, a cocksure smile easily appearing on his mouth. Looking at him and thinking purely academically, Mace could understand why Anakin had begun to the garner a lot of interest from the younger padawans and younglings of the female persuasion.

 _And so long as it is only physical, the Order is willing to look the other way now,_ Mace thought sardonically, half worried, half amused at the idea. _I would never have anticipated that all those years ago when Padawans Secura and Potter challenged us, but I cannot deny that the Order has changed greatly since then in how it views relationships._

That was one of the strangest and, in the eyes of many, the most damning change that had come over the Order in the past few years. Yoda had been pushing for more than a decade now to do away with the idea of not allowing bonds to form between Jedi. But he had made little to no headway until Harry and Aayla had proven so unequivocally that bonds such as theirs could be made to be of the Light.

Mace still remembered that: that moment where Harry challenged the rest of the High Council, his hand shining with Force light, as Aayla stood behind side him, grasping his other hand in hers. As the days grew darker, that moment helped Mace realize that there was also light.

But their bond had not been replicated, and, because it had not, the push to allow emotional and mental attachments had reversed itself entirely. The Council of Knowledge, the Council of Relocation, and even more than half of the High Council itself had simply not seen the point of allowing bonds like that. Not allowing such had kept the Oder together for one thousand years of peace, after all.

Conversely, they had been forced to acknowledge that humans and other species like them did need some physical outlet for certain urges in order to be completely effective. They weren't happy about it, and a lot of the aliens who didn't have that imperative, such as master Ranicisis, Yaddle, and others, had speculated on the idea of using certain drugs to suppress such. But that idea had been dismissed, since such drugs had negative effects on the psyche. The arguments about it had been quite vituperative, warranting Master Windu's casting a deciding vote on the matter.

Eventually it had been decided to allow Jedi to form physical bonds. However, even there, there was a noted need for oversight. If padawans or younglings formed attachments like that, they were watched closely, and if the watchers believed that the bond was changing from purely physical to emotional, they were separated swiftly. Most of the time this seemed to work, and the separated individuals went back to normal or formed further physical attachments with other people in their new clans. Other times the couple's protests had shown that they would have to be educated further in the need for serenity rather than emotion.

However Mace and several of the other human Jedi knew this was going to change one way or another. Yes, it was possible to separate physical pleasure from love, but it actually wasn't all that healthy to do so. Humans and the species like them who almost required sex in order to truly function could be celibate or fully active. This limbo between the two was bizarre and unsustainable. But as a stopgap to appease both the New and Old factions, as they were being called, it seemed to be working. Fewer Padawans had taken the Old Oath since the rules had been changed, and some of the tension between the factions had disappeared. Some, not all, and he knew there was building dissent among the Consulars, aided along by the sheer number of combat related missions the Jedi were getting now.

Anakin had, to Master Windu's certain knowledge, two, perhaps even three girls that he was frequently physical with. Yet at least in this Anakin had decided to completely follow the Order's tenets. He had not formed any emotional attachment beyond that of friendship to any of the girls, and Mace knew he had broken it off with one girl when she began to feel an emotional connection to them.

 _Now if only I could persuade myself that it was because Anakin doesn't want to form emotional attachments to people. But that could not be further from the truth. Anakin is a man of fierce emotions of all sorts despite my best efforts to curb them. There will come a time when Anakin will want to form an emotional attachment to someone, and I am afraid that, as with everything he really wishes to do, Anakin will embrace it wholeheartedly._

 _That will be a trying time. His power, strength, and abilities have already made him someone to respect and look up to, even emulated by many. Many will not react kindly to his skirting the rules of the Order, while others will see it as a wedge to force further changes in the Order's rules._

 _Still, it is not yet come, and I cannot see its specter in the Force, so I will cheerfully leave those thoughts for another day. Besides, this mission will probably call upon all of our abilities anyway._

In order to better solidify their cover, Master Windu and Anakin stayed a few days in the city first, looking for jobs for the mercenary company they were using as cover. There was no one hiring, however, the jobs for said, as three local merchants having recently hired mercenaries for an anti-pirate strike in the local star cluster had dried up the job market by the time they had arrived. The middlemen for those merchants were sorry, but that left the two ostensibly at loose ends. Further adding to their cover, the two then gambled away the money their company had supposedly given them, forcing the two to look for local short term jobs to pay for fuel to get off world once more.

This brought them to the bio-tech company, Zoa-Guard, where their target was working. While Anakin performed his morning meditations, Mace, his features still changed from his normal appearance, called ahead on their second morning on planet about interviewing for a short term security job to pay their bills. He received the okay to come in, but was warned that the interview process would take some time. After agreeing, he logged off the telecom and turned to his padawan. "You heard, of course?"

Anakin's eyes popped open and he nodded. "Yes, master. I'll be ready." He hesitated, then blurted out, "Master, why aren't I allowed to go to the Serenno Training Center?"

"It is not a question of being allowed, padawan, nor is it a matter of trust, but of need," Mace said with a faint snort. "You have no need of going there, not with having learned many of the techniques watching me."

"But not all of them, master. Only the main three," Anakin rebutted. "The STC trains younglings and Masters alike in a lot more than simple shielding, color changing, and stunning. You yourself have said as much before, so why aren't I, or even both of us, taking some time to retrain there? I'm certain that, between the two of us, we wouldn't need to be there for very long to learn everything they can teach, after all."

"Trying to appeal to my ego is beneath you, Anakin, as Jedi having egos at all should be beneath us both," Mace admonished, his face noticeably hardening. He waited until his padawan nodded, looking down at the floor, before going on. "And while you are correct that I can only use the main three, as has become their name, that is enough. More and more Masters and Knights are being rotated through the training center to learn them and retrain their lightsaber skills, Anakin, which was the main reason the Serenno Training Center was begun, and that is an area you certainly do not need help in."

That made Anakin perk up a bit and Mace once more fought not to roll his eyes. _In many ways he is so advanced, but his ego is still an issue at times. After this mission I will push for further mediation and mental training for a time. A few months spent on Coruscant will do Anakin good._

With that thought Mace went on. "Anakin, you have already been favored above your fellows in many ways. You should have joined a youngling clan when Qui-Gon brought you to the temple, but instead I took you on then as my padawan. You have been allowed to retain contact with your mother, while the Order in the main is still trying to organize this for other younglings and padawans. I even started training you in lightsaber skills because your body control and Force Precognition were so advanced years before you would normally be allowed a live weapon. This does not mean that you should always expect to be treated as special. Indeed, because I have favored you so much, I demand more from you to offset that. Do you understand?"

"…Yes, Master Windu," Anakin said, with a somewhat arrogant smile curling his lips. "I will not let you down."

This caused Mace to frown. _Yes. Some more mental training is definitely necessary. I will need to carefully balance it, though, so that he realizes both that he is being chastised and does not get his back up because of it._ "Now, prepare yourself. We need to leave within an hour, and I want you to practice your accent for a time just in case you have to talk during the interview."

"Guh, yes, master," Anakin grumbled, bringing out a throat lozenge and setting it to the side. "I still don't see why we can't just Disillusion ourselves and walk in."

"Because Disillusion techniques don't work on robotics at range, and our target is known to prefer droids running her security. If not, we would already have done so, Anakin. Now take your lozenge and let us begin practice."

The Zoa-Guard company's facility was an out of the way set of buildings about ten minute's flight out of the capital, well away from anyone else, like most bio-tech company buildings were both on this planet and on many others. While the universe needed bio-tech, given the proliferation of diseases, that didn't mean the work was trusted by the locals. After all, a serum designed to get rid of bacteria could spiral out of control all too easily, and that was just one example of the Pandora's box that was biotechnology.

The interview happened in a small, out of the way room off of a corridor through the facility, which was small but sprawling, a single story set of buildings all connected by walkways. It was distressingly like many rooms in hospitals the galaxy over, white and almost aggressively bland. The interviewer sat across from the two Jedi in disguise, a Gran who was a rather obese example of his race, his voice a drone.

Windu fielded all the questions quickly and easily until the Gran began to wind down. "…and finally, as the last part of our medical background, you will have to submit a blood sample."

This caused Windu to lock his expression down as wariness crept into him, the Force beginning to niggle at his senses. _Our target needs no further access to Jedi blood given her experiments in that direction from before her incarceration!_ "Why'd a need to be doin' that, eh? It be well beyond what most be needin'."

"Because this is a bio-tech company," the Gran said, his voice shifting into a 'talking to idiots' tone. "We need to see that you are not carrying any diseases before we allow you to work here, even for a short term protection job like this."

Windu allowed his face to shift into a wary look before sighing. "A'ight. We's be agreeing to that, so long as we take's it with our own equipment." The Gran scowled, and Windu went on, gesturing at the IDs on the table between them. "We's be mercs, boyo, and we's not be so without getting' our hands dirty. Ain't gonna let you keep a sample and turn around and sell to da authorities after dis when it comes time to pony up the creds."

As he spoke Windu reached out with the Force, using the hand he was gesturing to the IDs with to direct it for a moment, influencing the Gran's mind to agree to that point. This, coupled with Windu's reasoning, which matched what a real merc would be worried about, worked, and the Gran nodded.

However, an instant later the mission went to hell in a handbasket. Sitting beside Windu, Anakin's Force Precognition flared a warning, and he looked around wildly, catching a glimmer of movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he saw a vent opening there in the wall, and, needing no further warning, he broke character, shouting, "Watch out, master!" hurling up a Force shield at the same time.

Both Jedi swiftly stood up, but there was no physical threat at the moment. Instead air was simply blasted into the room, an odorless and colorless gas quickly spreading towards the three sentients in the room. "Shrink the shield! Make it impervious!" Windu barked, joining his power to his padawans as he did. Normally a shield had to be slightly permeable in order to let in air, but facing a gas like this, that would have been just as useful as no shield at all.

"Do you take me for a fool, Jedi? Your features might not match any Jedi on record, but the phrase 'it is only paranoia if they aren't after you' is a survival trait!" said a female voice from a nearby speaker. It would have sounded nice, possibly even attractive, if not for the strident, almost manic tone. "I don't know what twigged you to my presence here, but you won't be leaving!"

Mace scowled at that, while the Gran, caught up in their shield with the Jedi along with his desk and the three chairs, looked around wildly, his three eyes waving wildly on their short stalks. "Jenna Zan Arbor, you are under arrest for breaking Republic Bio-tech regulations, the Rights of All Sentients Act, by experimenting on sentients against their will, illegal kidnapping, and jail break! Come along quietly!"

"Oh please, you Jedi and your self-righteous pap! I've done my time for all of those already, thank you, and breaking out of jail was simply me releasing myself on my own recognizance," the voice said, almost conversational now, but this was merely a cover.

As Arbor spoke the door opened with a bang, and several attack droids, the same type favored by the Trade Federation but with somewhat larger shoulders and a recessed head, came in. They immediately opened fire on the Jedi, their blasts battering at the Force shield.

"Now!" Mace shouted over the blaster fire, but Anakin had already released his shield, racing forward with his lightsaber already activating. The first two droids were cut down by a single slash of his blade, but the others backed away, firing at Anakin and falling back into the corridor.

Behind him Mace let his own shield drop, looking down at the Gran. "Don't try to run. We might be questioning you later," he said, before moving to follow Anakin out the door. As he did he reached out with his Force senses, making certain that Anakin's trail of destruction was going in the direction of their quarry.

It was, and Mace hurried to catch up, just as the room they had been in exploded. Later Mace would discover some explosives had been emplaced in the Gran's desk, but the Jedi had escaped the room too quickly, and a hurried Force Shield saved Mace from injury, though the effort took some energy out of him. The Gran, however, was not so lucky, his body shredded by the explosion before he could even scream.

From the entrance to the building they had entered from came more droids, and Mace turned in that direction, his lightsaber flashing. He could have used another Force Shield, but he wanted to concentrate most of his Force powers on trying to discern what Arbor would do now that she had been discovered. _Will she run or try and fight?_

The answer came to him just as Anakin reached the end of the corridor and found himself being attacked from both sides. But Anakin handled this easily: a Force Push in one direction coupled by a brief Force Shield to block the bolts already shot while he concentrated his lightsaber defense to the other side.

 _She's going to trap us here and run,_ Mace sensed, a feeling of great danger and death welling up from one direction. "Anakin, switch off!" he ordered, sending a Force Crush out, destroying the droids coming in from the exterior of the building.

"What? Why, master?" Anakin asked, not turning to look at the older Jedi as he dueled with both several guard droids at the far end of the corridor and two quad laser barrels which had swung out of the walls.

"She's going to run! we need you to…" Mace said, catching up to the youth just in time to be caught in yet another explosion, the floor of the intersection exploding up at the two Jedi. The Force was screaming at them, but, unable to raise shields in time, both Jedi were **just** able to leap away enough to avoid a messy death. Anakin jumped forward, landing in among the droids, only getting his back seared slightly. Being closer, Mace had to leap up onto the ceiling and then away, only to fall short as he was caught from behind by the explosion.

Pain shot through Mace's back, side, and head, as his shirt was fried from his back along with his leggings, his skin burning and shrapnel slamming into his back and shoulder, but Mace was an old hand at using the Force to deaden the pain, and he did so now without even thinking about it. Rolling to his feet and making another leap to land near his padawan while hacking down one of the two quad lasers, Mace continuing talking almost as if the explosion hadn't happened. "She, she's going to run. We need you to be in the air to stop her. I can't imagine the locals will be able to close down the space traffic, and if she breaks the gravity well she'll jump. The Republic can't afford a bioterrorist like her to run free. Go!"

Anakin nodded, quickly racing off, the Force pouring into his body and heightening his speed to a level few Jedi Masters could match, as he made for the company's tarmac. Windu, meanwhile, moved forward alone, using more of the Force to keep from fainting due to the pain of his wounds and using the Force to jumpstart the healing process at the same time. Anakin was still too late to stop a small, single person yacht from taking off from a hanger to one side. The ship, however, thankfully didn't have any weapons and simply raced for open space.

But Anakin was on its heels almost immediately in the modified Delta-6. Lining up a warning shot, he fired while, at the same time, linking his system into the local space traffic. "Attention, local space control. This is Jedi Skywalker. Am in hot pursuit of an intergalactic wanted fugitive. Do not get in my way." With that done he switched frequencies using the Force to figure out which one to use to contact the escaping yacht. "Arbor, put down now or I will be forced to blow you out of the sky!"

"You wouldn't dare, Jedi, if you know what I have left behind. Don't think mere explosives are all of it. I've left a little surprise, just waiting in my lab to add to the surprise I left behind on the penal world you lot stuck me on! You'll need to take me alive to get the antidote, or else it'll be released into the planet's air. Needless to say, it will go viral quickly. Do you want the deaths of this planet on your conscience? Let me go, and I'll give you the code to shut the release agent down safely when I reach open space."

Scowling, Anakin frowned, reaching out for the Force, testing the sincerity of her words and the future. Realizing with a sick horror that she was telling the truth, he started to wrestle with his conscience as the two ships made for space.

Two Headhunter type starfighters rose from behind him. But Anakin, without any pause, cut his engines for a moment, letting them roar past. An instant later he stitched up both of them with his blasters, sending first one then the other down, tapping the second with two of his ship's proton torpedoes to kill it quickly before racing after the yacht.

"Anakin, I have found and am disarming the device," Mace said over their communicator, just as Anakin regained his former position on the fleeing yacht, both ships breaking out of the atmosphere. "I was able to start up the building's emergency security program and am now locked in here. You'll have to make the call."

Anakin could sense his master's pain and something else, a sickness of the body, and realized his master was stuck inside with whatever the madwoman had tried to release. With that in mind the decision was easy to reach. Not even giving Arbor a second chance, Anakin locked onto the yacht. "You are wrong, Arbor. We want you dead a lot more than we need you alive."

The Force warning him that he'd need it to make sure of the ship's destruction, Anakin flicked a switch, activating the modified box launcher he had designed for the ship, ripple firing all four of the remaining proton torpedoes in one burst. The torpedoes struck the ship astern, the first three overloading it's overpowered shielding, and the last exploding the ship's engine, vaporizing the craft in a soundless explosion.

"I'm sorry, master," Anakin said into the communicator of his ship, his face hard and cold, while his back began to twinge, forcing him to use more of the Force to stop the pain. "I couldn't take her alive."

"You will be questioned on this, Anakin," Mace said after a sigh. "However, I cannot deny that she was going to get away, and I would rather have her dead then free to ply her vile trade." The weakened Master, most of his mind and will on his own body, trying to keep the contagion at bay, allowed a rare look of unvarnished approval to appear on his face in the pickup, and Anakin beamed back wearily, even though he could see his master was not in a good way. "You did very well, my padawan, very well. Now I need to meditate and fight this contagion. That means that you will be in charge of making our preliminary statement to the High Council and the Chancellor."

Anakin winced, holding a hand up to his head and touching the lightly burned portion. "Oh no, master, my head. I think I need a few hours of healing mediation too."

Mace raised an eyebrow and slowly shook his head, not to really emphasize his point, but more to make certain said head didn't fall off of his shoulders from the pain his body was in at the moment. "Your acting skills do not match your skills with the Force, I'm afraid."

"Feh, it was worth a try," Anakin muttered, before straightening and bowing formally to his master. "Don't worry, master. I'll handle it."

While Master Windu concentrated on healing himself, Anakin first took the time to change his clothing, then waved the Jedi Order tag for the locals, who attempted to scream his head off for the brief dogfight in atmosphere and the exploded remains of the yacht in orbit, which according to them would be a traffic hazard for some time. Once he had browbeaten them or shoved off their concerns to the side to let Master Windu deal with them later, he finally was able to use the local Hypercom network to send his report to Coruscant.

Given the fact that this mission had been given to the Order by the Chancellor's office and the severity of the threat to Republic that someone like Arbor could have become, it came as no surprise to Anakin that two of the High Council were involved in the call along with the Chancellor himself. That last might have been a surprise for most, but Anakin had been on several missions before this where the Chancellor had been involved. While the two of them had never talked, Anakin felt the older man was, if not a friend, and least friendly towards him after Anakin's part in freeing Naboo of the Trade Federation when he was a young boy. He didn't really know the man very well beyond that, and his master's distrust of politicians had sort of rubbed off on Anakin, but he was willing to give the Chancellor the benefit of the doubt more than most other politicians.

Anakin gave his report in as concise a manner as possible, not going into detail on how the two Jedi had changed their appearance, as was common practice when giving a report to anyone outside the Order. He did go into detail on the number of traps they had run into and how Arbor's paranoia had forced their hand. He ended the report by telling them all why Master Windu was not the one doing so, and how he had activated the building's security features despite still being within the building himself.

"And we are certain that once the building has been cleared that Master Windu himself will be, be clear of this contagion? Forgive me, but I do not know the medical nomenclature or anything about the Jedi's ability to heal themselves," the Chancellor said at that point, looking to one side as he addressed the two Masters, Adi Gallia and Master Koon. Obi-Wan Kenobi, who Anakin vaguely recognized from their time together years back, was also there, though he remained silent, waiting until his knowledge of Jenna Arbor was called upon.

"Yes, he will be clear of it, but we will send a Jedi Healer out just in case to make certain. They will be involved in both that and will have to certify that the building has been cleared of the contagion before we open it to allow Mace out," Adi replied, while Koon simply nodded.

The Chancellor took their words at face value, and Anakin continued his report. There Koon spoke up, asking Anakin if enough of the ship had been left in one piece to identify the body. "That will be my next task, master. The Force is telling me that she was aboard, but it is best to be certain in this case," Anakin replied.

"Very well. We would have preferred her alive, but it is better that she has been dealt with rather the let free to continue her heinous experiments. The disease Arbor somehow incubated on the penal colony she was kept on will have to be solved by other means," the chancellor said sadly.

The two Jedi, however, while agreeing on that point, were more worried about how the two Jedi had been recognized. Anakin had no answer there, having simply believed that it was the way they hadn't submitted their blood for sampling immediately. Which it very well might have been, the two Masters acknowledged, but they wanted Anakin and Windu to make certain. "If Master Windu's voice was recognized despite his assumed accent, that is a problem, since such things can only be fooled so much by the Force. It would be a bad sign if records of the voices of well-known Jedi have been making the rounds of the underworld."

The two of them looked at Obi-Wan, who answered their question. "Jenna Arbor was perhaps the most intelligent, brilliant bio-chemist in the Republic at one point. She was also paranoid to a level many criminals don't reach, even before Master Qui-Gon and I captured her. If she had a hint her escape was known, she would have developed that paranoia to a fine level. I think that this was simply a sign of that paranoia rather than a sign of a larger problem. Taking precautions against any future attempts, however, should be a given. And I also believe that any nearby Jedi should be rerouted to back up Anakin while Master Windu is stuck in that building."

Koon nodded, while Adi looked quizzical, her fellow master enlightening her a moment later. "We have known for years that the remaining Yinchorri raiders have prioritized Master Windu's death over all others. If it becomes known that he is stuck in one place for a long time, they may learn of it somehow and move against him in greater numbers than they have been able to bring together in the past."

Anakin barely kept back a scowl at the idea that he would need more Jedi to help him protect his master, simply nodding instead. "That makes good sense."

"We don't have any Jedi in the area, but we can perhaps reroute a nearby Consular Master/padawan pair," Adi mused.

"I am afraid the Republic doesn't have any police forces in the area, though I will contact the planetary governor and order him to aid you in any way he can, Anakin," the Chancellor said, smiling at the teen.

Anakin smiled more happily at that, eager to have a bigger stick to beat the locals into line with. The Masters asked a few more questions at that point, with Obi-Wan warning Anakin to be wary of traps when he began to investigate the remains of the ship. "It would be just like Arbor to want to take someone with her into death. She would believe doing so would let her make one last mark on the galaxy."

After Anakin acknowledged that, the High Council signed off, not realizing that the Chancellor didn't follow them. The old man asked several more question about the mission and the response from the locals before leading the conversation gently onto more familiar ground, giving Anakin the impression that he was using the conversation as a break from his work as chancellor.

Smiling into the pickup, Sheev's eyes gleamed with amusement. "I realize that I haven't been able to follow your career as closely as I had promised all those years ago. But I believe I speak for both myself and those who knew you as a young boy that you have done our expectations proud. I was actually speaking to Padmé the other day and she, like I, remembers what you did for Naboo back then."

Fighting back a flush at the memory of the girl he had called his angel when they first met, Anakin smiled proudly before tamping the expression back down. "I am happy to hear that, Chancellor."

 **OOOOOOO**

As Sidious had feared, Mace had kept any outside influence away from Anakin over the years, and in many ways the boy was a poster child for the Jedi Order now. But there were still cracks there, and the boy's ego had grown too much.

 _Push the two of them to take more important and more visible missions from now on; force him into the limelight and start creating a public image that Anakin will feel as both his just due and something to live up to, thereby manipulating both him and Windu further. Windu will not let that go too far without nipping it in the bud, but that can be used to drive a further wedge between them, one Windu will not see coming._

 _After that I can initiate further conversations about the nature of power and why Windu might be purposefully holding him back. After all, what Master would like to be surpassed by his student at such a young age… Yes, that message will find fertile ground here._

 _On top of that are the interesting feelings I was able to sense when I mentioned the Amidala bitch,_ Sidious mused after signing off, allowing his public persona to slough off his face, revealing the cold, controlled visage of Darth Sidious beneath. _Whether a crush, 'love,' or obsession, that could be used later on to manipulate the youth further. It is certainly not a mere physical attraction, though that would no doubt become part of it if they met again._

 _I can manipulate events to create such a meeting soon, but not quite yet. Perhaps… Yes, Amidala has already started to be courted by the disarmament faction in the Senate, despite the fact her own planet has a native military that is among the best, if least offensively minded, in the sector. If she joins them she will bring numerous votes to join that group, a threat that needs to be dealt with by the Armament faction, many of whom I can use as a fall out for the assassination attempt via my confederate patsies_ **.** _Place Anakin in a position to save her, and that will make for a fine reintroduction._

Setting aside those thoughts and, indeed, thoughts on the Senate as a whole, where the Great Plan was proceeding like clockwork, Sidious turned his thoughts to the portions of the plans which were not going as well as he wished them to.

 _The Order is not the weak, moribund, and, above all, paranoid and reactionary thing it should be, at least not all of it. There are more Sentinels and more Guardians now than I would have liked to see at this stage. And Jedi deaths are down from where the Great Plan projected them to be. Master Ranicisis' reforms and Yoda's push for these new techniques are slowly remaking the Order. But they are going too slowly._

 _Still, because they are pushing for those reforms there are many cracks within the Order. Many of the Order's members might be more ready for what is to come, but the Order as a whole has lost much of its unity. There are fracture points which my agents within the Order can use, and, once their unity is shattered, more Jedi will fall to the Dark Side, thus wrecking their public persona further and leaving them all more vulnerable._

 _My plans to set C'boath and others up as the voices of the true Jedi, making them the head of the Secessionist block, is not proceeding as well as I could hope, but it will come in time and will possibly even spark an outright civil war within the Order. The fact that Serenno has become such a hotbed of secession will also force the Order to take sides within the next year or move off planet. At this point I would take either as a win, given my frustrating inability to get an agent into the training center on a full time basis and my equally frustrating inability to rouse local sentiment against them. I don't know who to curse more, Tholme and his security reforms, or Vosa and the way she has been able to keep the Jedi's public persona there so positive._

On further reflection, Sidious decided that it was Tholme, since despite its importance in its sector, Serenno was not important in itself: rather, the training center was. _Yes, Tholme and that Vurk, Trebor, are a threat I did not foresee, despite the fact I have been able to lead the Order's attempts to find 'the brotherhood' around by its nose. Still, my tools to deal with them are ready now…_

That thought was sparked by a nearby computer screen beeping at him, the sign that a series of codes had been activated, telling him that the _Scimitar_ , or rather, **a** _Scimitar_ _,_ had arrived _._ The ship had been replicated five times now, though its current pilot had no way of knowing that, nor the fact that he himself was one of many.

Sidious smoothly finished some more hours of his work as Chancellor before retreating into his public quarters and from there into his sanctum, hidden from any attempt via electronics or the Force to find him. There he found Darth Maul, or rather, the first clone of said to return. He had several new scars and a few missing horns, but beyond that the Zabrak looked none the worse for wear from his duel with himself.

"Good, my apprentice, you have arrived. I knew the original would defeat that foolish creation of Plagueis'. While you have been gone I have continued the plan apace, else I would have halted the duel between you on Wayland. It is one of many mistakes I have been forced to clear up in the past few years. Still, you are here now, and that is important, for the Sith have need of you." Sidious said all this while watching his apprentice for any sign that the indoctrination had failed or had developed cracks, his Force powers reaching into the other's mind so subtly that Maul himself didn't feel it, let alone any Jedi up in their Temple through the intervening minds of Coruscant's masses.

There was nothing, only the enhanced rage, anger, and paranoia which Sidious had hoped to see. Having been forced to give himself to the Dark Side to a greater degree than ever before in order to combat himself, Darth Maul was now even more of a blunt object than before, but an even more dangerous one. _Good. He is no longer truly worth the Darth name, but he will perform his tasks well. The experiment has proven itself._

"What is thy bidding, my master? I am your blade; direct me!" Maul said, going to one knee.

"Rise, my apprentice. We must start to strike at the Jedi, but in a very specific way. I have a task for you: a Jedi which must die without any word of how getting out. You must kill the Jedi Master known as Tholme. He will be on Ord Padron soon. Strike him there or somewhere else, I care not, but his continued push for more internal security within the Order must be halted." Sidious gestured, and a datapad flew through the air to be caught by the red-skinned Zabrak male. "You will find further information on him and his abilities on that. I will trust you to plan his assassination on your own. Do not fail me."

"Yes, Master," Maul replied, taking the datapad and leaving the room without another word.

Sidious smiled, moving to take a seat in his throne, letting the warm darkness of the room soothe his soul as he once more centered himself in the Dark Side. The next two clones of his former apprentice, winners of matches against their fellows, would soon be online, and, given the way this one's indoctrination had worked, Sidious was certain theirs would too. One would lead the other 'special' clones into the Corellian Sector inNubus, further causing disunity between the so-called Green Jedi and the rest of the Order, while also causing trouble for a major thorn in Sidious' side in the Senate.

A third would be sent back to the defunct Orsis academy with everything Sidious had collected about the new techniques the Order had developed, both rumored and not, to train in how to combat them. Sidious had developed the stunning technique and even refined it to a lethal level, and he had begun to be able to change his appearance slightly, but not a lot. The Force Shield still eluded him, let alone the remainder of the techniques C'boath had warned him that rumor within the Order said could be learned on Serenno.

 _I now have my true apprentice, who in turn has his own assassin and the clones of my former assassin. I have my secessionist block beginning to gather forces and my own army building. Another two years and the clones will also be ready, my dagger at the Order's back. Yes… Yes, despite all the minor setbacks, despite the changes the Order has made, despite their searches for what they thought was the Brotherhood, the Force is still on the side of the Sith. The Jedi's days are numbered..._

 **OOOOOOO**

Master Micah Giiett stared at the small, extremely distorted mirror hanging on the bulkhead in front of him. He had become so used to the distortion by this point that he discounted it easily, his razor moving across his face quickly and surely. Wiping his face with a wet cloth, Micah then stared at his face in the mirror.

Most wouldn't have even thought of it as a mirror at all because of how distorted it was, but to Micah it was the first physical item that he had any kind of attachment to beyond his own lightsaber, because it was the first thing that he had ever been able to conjure. To many people being able to do something after years of attempting it would not have seemed worth the price, but Master Giiett was a Jedi, and he had treasured the little mirror since the moment he been able to create it.

At the moment, however, he was more concerned with the few strands of hair he was holding in front of his eyes at the present. "Yes," he said aloud. "Yes, they are indeed gray. If I was the type to be vain about my appearance, this would worry me."

Four years. They had been traveling through this vast, barely hyperspace capable nebula for four years since moving out of range of the HRS array. Most of that time had been spent on the ship, which for all of its size would probably have driven many an individual insane. But each day had brought new and interesting challenges, not only to Giiett, but to everyone aboard. And not all of them had come from trying to fulfill the vision they had all come to share of what this ship could be and was becoming under their care.

Giiett knew and remembered each incident, the clarity of his memories owing nothing to his mastery of occlumency.

Five times in that time they had been forced out of hyperspace due to an emergency jump because something had shifted into their path, and five times they had repaired the ship and the hyperdrive. Three times they had been attacked in space and had to repulse the attackers. Ten times they had discovered planets who were violently isolationist, remembering the time of the Republic in the most negative manner possible.

And most importantly, three times they had come upon planets that desperately needed aid.

The first such planet, a tiny little moonlet, really, had simply destroyed its ecosystem entirely due to too much homegrown industry. It was too far gone for the Jedi to even try to bring back. Being more mechanically inclined than the others, Quinlan and Harry had taken the lead. Quinlan and Alecto knew how to build hydroponic gardens by this point, having done much the same thing for the _Tyrant's Bane_. They had designed and led the construction of several space-based gardens.

And, thanks to the unique abilities of their ship and Harry, Aayla, and Fay's abilities to transfigure things, the Jedi had been able to actually share enough food with the populace of the planet to let them get by for a few weeks until their own gardens were operational. While they couldn't create filling food out of nothing, they could change protein packs or energy bars into full meals, something which had astonished the populace.

The next problem had been solved almost entirely through the Force rather than through both the Force and engineering skill. They had come upon a planet in danger of a plague that was threatening to spread to the entire planet. No one knew where the plague had come from, but since the planet had been racked by several devastating, if short lived, conflicts, there was little doubt of its basic origin.

Master Fay had led the way on that mission, figuring out a way to cure the plague and then disseminate that cure to the populace before more than a tithe of the populace had died, while the others did what they could to help or to halt the spread of the plague. It had taken everything they had to halt the plague, and Master Fay had pushed herself to the point of collapse several times during their stay there. It had gotten to the point where Harry had actually drugged her into sleeping for a time, though that hadn't stopped the ageless Master for very long.

But perhaps the most dramatic moment had been the mission where Master Fay had not taken part. Because while she had taken the lead on the mission against the plague, Master Giiett had to ruefully admit that it had been Harry who had been the one to take the lead on the next.

 **Start Flashback:**

"How is Master Fay?" Micah asked softly as Harry closed the door behind him to Master Fay's personal room on the _Tyrant's Bane_. They had just entered orbit over a new planet, one only two jumps away from their last port of call.

"She's tired, of course!" the younger man said sharply, before sighing and visibly centering himself in the Force. "I apologize, Master Giiett. That was both rude of me and beneath a Jedi. But she is still asleep. I can feel the Force within her slowly refilling, but she gave far too much of herself dealing with the plague for far too long. I realize we all did, but not to the extent she did," Harry said with a fond if exasperated smile on his face.

"And isn't that always the way with Fay, giving too much of herself like that," Lily quipped, coming out through the closed door behind Harry.

"Well, in any event, her yacht is ready to go. Who is going to head down? I vote me, since I still haven't caught up with the rest of you in terms of exploring new planets, after all," Alecto said in an effort to lighten the mood.

Harry was about to volunteer to stay, but Aayla felt that before he could and told him he was being silly. The new planet might well have more dangers they would need to face, and they would already be two down. So instead he simply sighed. "Well, let's go, then. I don't want to leave Master Fay alone for too long."

"She's a big woman, Harry," Lily said, ruffling her fingers through his hair. The feeling was a strange one, but Harry had long gotten used to it and felt better for it.

The planet seemed very nice, at least at first. Again it was a low-tech world, though the last three hadn't been. One in particular had had a truly massive home-grown industry, with four different planets having space stations around them, including the original one, and a very advanced asteroid mining industry. They had spent several months there learning what they could about their mining technology and buying several large, fully automated factories, which disappeared into one of the holds of the ship.

It had also been one of only four systems they'd seen so far which had more than one species living in it. They had been humans, an insectile race called Verpines, and two gas-breathing species.

As soon as they spotted their first settlement on this planet, the number of planets where they had seen multiple species living together went up by one. Here again there were humans, causing Aayla and Alecto to exchanged amused glances. "You humans," Alecto said with a faint laugh. "So prolific."

"We're survivors," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders. "Though we're not the only ones on this world."

"Indeed not," Aayla said with a smile, exchanging a nod with another Twi'lek who had just walked past them. The population of this community was evenly split between Twi'lek, humans, and what were probably the native sophonts: short, shaggy looking creatures with three legs and wide, dexterous fingers on the ends of short arms. And Harry and Aayla couldn't help but notice that there were many people who looked to be of mixed species.

" _So that's what our kids will look like if we have any?"_ Harry thought, sending the thought to Aayla as they walked down the street having just passed a family: a Twi'lek woman and a human man with four kids. Oddly enough, all of them were carrying large packs, something that made Harry frown.

" _They look nice. Certainly not malformed as far too many cross-species children are,"_ Aayla replied, her mental tone brimming with love. She could tell Harry was interested in having kids at some point, but he had turned that decision entirely over to her, one way or another. He would never pressure her on that point, which was just another reason that she loved him.

However, as the group continued looking for local delicacies—spices and other things they could trade for—all of them became aware of a tension in the air. Aayla was the first to notice that it was everywhere rather than an isolated incident, and spoke aloud. "There is a tension here, and quite a bit of fear, I think."

"It isn't another disease or something," Harry said, having just turned the corner, his back straightening as he gestured for the others to look around with them. The courtyard beyond was probably some kind of bazaar normally, but it had been cleared entirely. In its place were around seventy to eighty of the locals, drilling with swords and spears. Further away Harry could spot other people working with slug throwers of some kind, putting in the magazines and aiming downrange.

"I think we need to figure out what is going on here," Micah said grimly. "This looks like something we might wish to get involved in."

All of them, once more covered in their Force Cloaks, moved around in singletons to cover more ground, listening in on all the conversations they could. Quickly painting a picture of what was going on, they came back together within about an hour local time.

It turned out that this settlement was a little ways away from a border to something called the endless sands, which Harry recognized as one of the features they'd noticed from orbit. Out there in the desert lived another species, which locals simply called the Horde. They were centauroids, like Wulo, at least in body shape. But there the resemblance ended. The Horde were warm blooded reptiles of some kind, who swept out of the desert every hundred years or so, smashing every nation around them and subjugating the people for a few decades before returning to their deserts.

Much like the rest of the planet, they used a very eclectic variety of weapons: slug throwers of all sorts, spears, and swords.

"Was anyone able to get a sense of the direction that this Horde is coming from?" Micah asked. He'd been preoccupied with figuring out what sparked these massive migrations and if they could possibly broker a peace between the two groups. But apparently the Horde did not believe in talking with the other species and would much rather wipe them all out then talk to them.

"I did," Quinlan said grimly. "West by southwest from here, apparently. They're not that far away either, I don't think. Have you noticed how few people are actually in this city for its size?"

Alecto spoke up then, explaining what he had seen. "The refugees are meeting up outside of town to the north with more of those furry locals, the Dheas, with these huge beasts of burden. They are slow, but I'd bet even one of those critters could tug Master Fay's yacht."

"But the others, those of fighting age, are moving in the opposite direction," Lily said, shaking her head. "I spotted several groups like those we saw training being herded in that direction by a few others. I think somewhere out there is the local army, trying to stop this Horde."

The three padawans looked at Master Giiett and Quinlan. "What do you wish us to do, master?" Alecto asked formally.

"I would like for us to go and at least observe the horde," Micah said reluctantly. He knew that all three padawans had faced combat before, of course, but there was a vast difference between raiding a pirate's enclave, fighting in space, or even fighting a group of soldiers, in comparison to facing barbarians in a full on war.

"We will not engage unless absolutely necessary. Keep your Force Cloaks up at all times," he admonished, a faint smile on his face as he did so, though, taking the sting out of being told such an obvious thing.

Several hours later found Quinlan and the three padawans all kneeling behind various bushes, covered by a Disillusion technique which mixed visually blending in with mentally keeping people from noticing you. Master Micah had gone ahead with the ship to do a flyby over the horde. He hoped to use the ship to overawe the reptilian centauroids into retreating, or at least into coming to the parley table, but Harry didn't think that was going to happen.

To get to their current position, the Jedi had gone around the local army. Harry estimated that they were around forty thousand strong. But they were the equivalent of untrained levy units. And there was a palpable aura of fear around them, according to Aayla.

"I'm over the Horde now," Micah radioed. "This isn't an attack as we understand the term. I'm seeing family units, beasts of burden carrying tents, children… This is a migration, an entire people are on the move out here for some reason. I can't see anything beyond them, so I'm going to peel off and head deeper into the deserts for a bit before returning."

After hearing that Harry and the others watched as the Horde came into sight over the horizon. They were tromping along, the first few rows, at least, in impeccable lockstep and now the Jedi could make out their equipment. The humans, Dheas, and Twi'lek favored swords; the Horde, on the other hand, favored long, heavily weighted spears which became visible as the Jedi waited for them to come closer, analyzing what they were seeing as they did. They also had large slug thrower rifles and looked immensely strong.

" _Size isn't everything,"_ Aayla said in Harry's mind. _"With that size and those four legs, they have to be slow."_

" _Maybe. But if they can end a fight with a single stab from those spears, then they don't actually have to be very fast."_ And they were very fast. It had taken them barely ten minutes to cross the distance between where the Jedi had first spotted them to where they were nearly right on top of them.

All the Jedi looked at their communicators in surprise when Micah's voice came through it once more, interspersed with static. "Mayday, Mayday! …have been…storm, going down!"

"What the hell?" Harry yelped, surging to his feet, trusting in his Disillusion technique to keep him hidden. "Master Fay's yacht can take more of a pounding than a cruiser with all we've done to it over the years! No way could it be knocked down like that!"

"Regardless, it is going down, and Master Giiett didn't say they were under attack, Harry, only that he ran into a storm. Perhaps something has interfered with his systems and he is being forced to crash," Lily said.

"Mom, if you could scout out the Horde for us, the rest of us are going to go rescue Master Micah," Harry decided quickly, before any of the others, even Quinlan, could speak up, holding up his communicator which could be used to home in on the downed ship. "I'll teleport the four of us forward in large jumps to get there."

"Good luck, everyone," Lily said, before turning and zooming off towards the oncoming Horde.

" _Oh, this isn't going to be pleasant at all…"_ Aayla moaned through their link, but she still took Harry's hands willingly as he stared forward toward the horizon.

Once the others had grabbed onto them, Harry began to teleport them forward in jumps. With all of them covered with Disillusion techniques to hide their presence, they passed directly around the forerunners of the oncoming Horde and then passed several other groups in quick succession.

All this meant was that the Jedi had nothing to concentrate on other than their own queasiness. Alecto had been teleported like this precisely once before, but Quinlan had never had this specific ability tested on him. Indeed, no one but Harry had been able to use the teleportation techniques, though there was a rumor that Dooku had been able to, and perhaps Master Fay. His face was quickly a very nasty shade of green, while Aayla grimly kept her eyes tightly shut, clenching Harry's hand so hard he began to lose feeling in the appendage.

Despite Harry's teleportation, however, the Horde was closer to where Master Giiett had gone down. They passed several groups of Horde troops, mostly young men and women, who looked more like youth gangs than anything else, along with several family groups moving towards it.

Stopping within sprinting distance of the downed ship, which, he idly noted, was buried nose down into the sand of the desert, Harry let go of the others, allowing them to gratefully fall forward. Jedi training allowed the trio to keep their gorges from rising, but all of them were still looking a little green around the gills after the numerous teleportations.

"Quinlan and I will deal with those," Harry said, pointing to the nearest groups of the Horde. "Aayla, you and Alecto check on Master Giiett."

"Right," Quinlan said, slowly pushing himself to his feet, one hand still on his stomach. "Illusions?"

Harry nodded, and the two of them swiftly began to work, conjuring up a large illusion of several 'more' meteors coming down from the sky. Harry created the imagery, while Quinlan began to create the sounds of their passage through the air above them and to work on the minds of the Horde members, making them more credulous for a time to ward them off the area.

It worked. The majority of the Horde groups coming towards their ship peeled off and away, shouting and trembling, holding their hands above their heads in a vain attempt to ward off the meteors. It wouldn't have worked if even one of those groups had been slow enough for the illusions to touch them, but thankfully the reptilian centaurs were as naturally credulous as they were barbaric. This still took some time, and by the time they had reached the ship, Alecto and Aayla were already inside having found Master Giiett.

"He's unconscious, Harry, master. Took a nasty hit to the head. Alecto and I can stop the bleeding, but neither of us are good enough healers to try and fix his brain if he's got a concussion, and he's not waking up," Aayla reported aloud for the benefit of Quinlan.

"Don't try then," Quinlan ordered, sighing. Master Fay was their primary healer, but she was still down from Force exhaustion, of course. And messing with the mind, be it the squishy bits or the thoughts said squishy bits contained, was tough.

"Do you think it's dangerous to move him?" Harry asked.

"No," Aayla replied before Quinlan could. "Alecto and I already had to in order to get at the cuts on his face."

"In that case, one of you come and help Quinlan and I try to figure out why the ship crashed. I'm not seeing any damage on the exterior," Harry said, his voice trailing off as he sent what he was seeing to Aayla via their link.

" _Some kind of ion pulse weapon?"_ Aayla asked via their link.

" _No,"_ Harry said in the same manner. _"The ship's shielded against that. Given the strengthening runes we inscribed on the hull it would take sustained heavy fire to break through its armor, even if you take out its energy shields. I don't know how the physical defenses from the Force enhanced plates would react to a ion cannon, but there's no way any kind of handheld weapon could force the ship to crash. And look! There's no external damage, not even from the crash."_

As Harry finished speaking, Aayla exited the ship moving towards the back of it where Quinlan and Harry were making their way around it looking for why it had crashed.

After Harry repeated himself aloud, however, Quinlan shook his head with a faint chuckle. "Ah, Harry. Never try to complicate matters too much. Look." The others looked to where the older man was pointing and saw that the engines at the back of the ship were lined with dust.

"Okay?" Harry said cautiously, "What about it? It's just dust."

"Yes. Ddust, Harry," Quinlan said, now somewhat more amused. He hopped up to hold onto one of the engine cowlings to look inside. "Lots and lots of dust. Dust which can get anywhere, which can foul systems, engines, and even cause a crash."

Alecto joined them then, hopping out of the ship and moving to join them. "Duros apparently has a lot of dust storms on it, and they play merry hell with air-speeders if they aren't routinely maintained. If the ship ran into one of those…"

"Could that be the reason behind the migration?" Harry asked.

"Oh, you betcha, Harry," Alecto said with a nod and a shudder. "Dust storms will rip a person's skin off his bones almost as quick as if you had entered the atmosphere of a gas giant. And they come up suddenly with no real warning. If Master Micah didn't know what to look for even the Force wouldn't be able to help him."

Aayla had hopped up to the top of the ship by this point and was staring back the way it had come out into the desert, after making sure that none of the rest of the Horde were coming towards them. Luckily, Micah had barely turned around before he had crashed, so there were no more Horde members near them thanks to Quinlan and Harry. The other way, however, was a different story entirely.

"Um, Alecto…" Aayla said, and Harry looked up sharply at the feeling of consternation and actually a little bit of fear in their link. "Could, could you come up here?"

Alecto hopped up to join her and stared. "That would do it," he said, his tone almost dull with sudden worry.

The others joined them quickly and saw instantly what they were talking about. From one edge of the horizon to the other there was a massive cloud of swiftly moving dust over the desert, shifting this way and that as they watched.

"Right…" Harry said slowly. "Right, so this migration really does have more of a point behind it then just simple aggression."

"I wouldn't say that," Quinlan said, turning away and leading the way down off the ship, heading inside quickly while the others followed. "You felt the emotions from the Horde forerunners, correct, Aayla?"

"I did," Aayla said sadly. "A lot of aggression, bloodlust, and associated emotions out there. I imagine that the migration aspect is being fueled by these storms, but there's also a lot of true desire for conquest in the Horde."

"So we won't be able to talk them out of it… Damn it. All right, Aayla, with me," Harry ordered, quickly taking charge once more. "We'll clear the engines of the dust. Alecto, keep on high watch. Quinlan, can you clear the interior engines?"

"I'll have to open up a lot of the baffles, but yes," Quinlan replied, and with that they quickly got to work, with Alecto pulling out his blaster rifle and heading back out to take up a position on the hull. Through the use of low powered Force Pushes designed around a cleaning charm Lily had taught them, the lovers got rid of the dust in the engines quickly, while Quinlan made certain each of the engines' interior parts were still in working condition. He had to call in Harry's expertise with Reparo for a few parts, but other than that they were quickly able to get the ship back into working condition.

By the time they were finished, Lily had returned from her scouting mission. "The Horde is making camp within striking distance of where we found the native army," she reported sadly. "They've separated into four separate camps. Only one of them is dominated by family groups, and it's at the back of the diamond formation the camps are set up in. A little more sophisticated than I expected from barbarians, really, even barbarians who have slug throwers. One of them, the forwardmost camp, is for the more established groups, the ones made of older males: blooded warrior types, you could say. The other two are made of younger men, and let me tell you, the ratio of men to women in that horde is kind of scary."

"It normally is that way in barbarian cultures, especially ones which routinely see wars between various clans or tribes," Quinlan replied clinically, looking up at the Force Ghost appreciatively. "First, were any of them Force sensitives? Did they see you, I mean? And what is their aim for this invasion, or migration, whichever it is?"

"I got close to them, but while Fay was able to teach me how to use magic to translate," Lily said, using the word magic deliberately to get groans out of her listeners, "I couldn't understand a lot of what they were talking about. I heard talk about setting the balance right, teaching the outworlders and the Dheas to know their place too, but that is it. I'm afraid they're really looking for a fight here."

Harry nodded, touching the scar on his forehead as he thought. "All right, here's what we're going to do. Master Vos, I want you to return to the _Tyrant's Bane_ with Master Giiett. Get to work on the droid starfighters; we'll want as many of them up and running as you can give us."

The _Tyrant's Bane_ didn't have many starfighters in the first place, only sixty or so, and most of them were more parts than working units. But they had started to put some of them back in working order before this. Quinlan, as chief mechanic for the group, would know what to do to get a few of them up and running, so he agreed to go.

As he did, he paused, rather bemused that he had not even hesitated to follow Harry's orders despite the younger man being a Padawan rather than another Knight. _Still, it isn't as if I have any better idea of what to do. And leadership has never been my strong point… or working well with others in any capacity,_ Quinlan thought with amusement.

"Shift as many of the droids to that as you need," Harry went on. "If Master Fay is awake, get her to heal Master Micah and then ask them what we should do. Until we're countermanded, though, I think the best bet would be for us to work with the locals. Against this large an army, the three of us or even the four of us would not be able to stop them without the starfighters. But if they're already targeting the allied army, we can use work with them in order to hold them back until Quinlan arrives with overwhelming firepower."

Quinlan nodded. A more advanced army would have a general staff: leaders that could be targeted, taken out, or captured in order to force the army to surrender, just like taking the king in regicide. Or, if they had more time to work with, they could start a guerrilla campaign. As it was, they were swiftly running out of time and options. "Agreed. I'll keep working on the droids until halfway through tomorrow night no matter how many of them I've been able to get online. Will you be able to hold that long?"

Harry nodded, looking at the others, who nodded just as grimly. "We'll be here. Or there, anyway."

After Quinlan had dropped them off, the three padawans made their way through the grasslands to the army camp, having disembarked well out of sight of the camp. As they approached, Harry indicated they should cancel their Disillusion techniques, and they walked up boldly to a guard on duty.

On this side of the army camp there weren't many guards, but the ones there were fearful. This was an army that knew it really didn't stand any chance: that they were just going through the motions in hopes of a miracle. "Well, just call us Misters and Mrs. Miracle," Harry sent back as Aayla relayed that to him. Her empathic ability had given her a far better and faster understanding of the emotions of the camp than Harry or Alecto could have gleaned.

Harry nodded to the guard as he walked up to them, but before the guard could say anything Harry spoke. "I am Jedi Harry, and these are Jedi Alecto and Jedi Aayla. Take us to your general."

The guards looked startled at that, but put their hands on their swords and glared at them, especially Alecto. "Is that supposed to be some kind of joke!?" they said in the native language, which all three automatically understood via the Force. "Jedi don't exist! They're just some story from the old times before the Sundering!"

"We don't have time for this, Harry," Alecto said, stepping around Harry and waving his hand in front of the guard's faces. "You will take us to your general."

"We will take you to our general," both of the guards said.

"Nice," Harry whispered as their three of them followed the two guards. He hadn't really gotten that good at the offensive mental techniques like that, Master Fay having concentrated on the softer side of such. But it was obvious that Micah had given Alecto a good grounding in them.

Eventually they were led to the general's tent, which wasn't guarded, though it was marked out by its size. It was obvious that the Army didn't fear any dissension within the ranks: they had far too much to concern themselves with with the Horde coming towards them. Inside they found four people: one human, one Twi'lek, and two of the other kind of locals, the Dheas. Three of them were listening to the fourth, one of the two Dheas who was taller than the other one with quite a bit more gray in its fur.

All four of them turned and stared at the three young newcomers, in particular Alecto after he removed his hood. "Forgive our deception for getting in to see you," Harry began before any of them could do more than gape, "but there is very little time until the Horde attacks tomorrow morning. We are Jedi and wish to help you."

The human scoffed, and the Twi'lek looked as if he was about to murder all three of them, but the two locals simply blinked, looking at one another. The general said, "We have heard of Jedi: there are legends of them from before the Sundering. But forgive us, how can you help us here? There are but three of you. Even in the legends the Jedi were mortal and could be overcome through numbers. Numbers which we are facing here.

"Unless your arrival means we can look for more help from the stars," said the human, looking at the three young beings askance.

"We are actually five. Two of our number are working on whipping up said aid at present, but it will take time. The three of us, however, will work with the army to hold off the Horde until that cavalry arrives," Harry said. "As for what we can do…" He gestured, and suddenly in his hand he was holding a sword, a heavy scimitar like the locals wore at their waists, something that could never have been hidden in his sleeve. "This is a simple sample of what we can do. Myself and Alecto here will help create a defense, while Aayla will help your logistics."

"You can conjure up bullets?" the general asked quickly. "We have more than enough gunpowder to last through a full five days of combat, but we don't have nearly as many bullets or canister rounds for our cannons."

Aayla nodded and stepped forward to stand beside Harry on the opposite side from Alecto. "I can. Give me a sample of a few of your bullet types, and I can duplicate them."

"That would be a major help. But what do you mean when you say 'create a defense?'"

Alecto smiled, showing white teeth standing out from his green skin. "Why don't you come with us and find out?"

A moment later the four officers followed the three Jedi out to the section of the camp nearest the Horde. There the locals had begun to create a series of stakes and mounded earth as defense, while also creating ditches here and there. But it was evident that the work would not be done by the time the Horde attacked, the barbarians' speed having taken the multi-species army by surprise.

Harry looked at Alecto before clasping his friend's shoulder with one hand, funneling his Force powers into his friend, giving his own energy and strength to Alecto for a time. Alecto knelt down on the ground, touching it with his hands and concentrating, then opened them and spread them out either side as if thrusting them through clay and pushing it to either side. There was a great rumble followed by shouts of exclamations and shock from the officers behind the Jedi and the army troops nearby as a ditch grew out in front of Alecto through the land.

Those shouts continued to rise in volume as a mound of rocks, dirt, and mud rose up towards the camp like a wave. Then it began to harden, solidifying until it was a tall, very thick wall about two stories tall with a series of steps on the interior side. Both the wall and the ditch only covered only about eighty yards or so, but it was a very defensible position.

Ignoring the shouts of shock and awe from the camp, Harry and Alecto turned to the general. "That is what we meant," Alecto said simply. "It'll take us a while, but we can put up a wall like that around the entire camp."

Throughout the night, that was what the Jedi did. Harry and Alecto created a wall around the entire camp, huge and wide, going all the way around just in case the Horde surrounded them. "Do you think it'll be enough?" Harry asked as they finished the job at around three or four in the morning local time.

Thanks to their Jedi training neither of them were tired in body, though the amount of Force power they had to use had made them somewhat weary in mind, even Harry. Still, they would both recover somewhat given time. Recovery and control, the ability to use just enough Force to get a job done, had been the main thrust of Master Fay's training for Harry for several years now, so he no longer simply brute forced his techniques any longer. Sometimes, however, brute force, or rather, Force, was still called for.

"We seriously need to find someone who is as good at manipulating water as Mak and I are at manipulating earth, Harry," Alecto said mock grumpily, pushing his friend's shoulder playfully. Despite the upcoming battle, both of them were somewhat upbeat about it. After all, they only had to last until Master Quinlan arrived with the cavalry.

As they reentered the camp they saw the work going on. All three species were already moving up onto the wall, hauling up several of their small cannons and a few crew served machine guns. Lily had taken one look at them and said that they looked like something from World War II, and the cannons next to them looked like they were from the American Civil War.

"Yeah, a moat would be nice," Harry said, sighing. "I suppose I could do that, but Aayla needs help on creating more bullets."

Alecto shook his head. "Leave Aayla to that, Harry. Go check in with the general," he almost ordered. "I'll help out the locals in creating further defenses."

Harry's lips twitched, but he nodded, considering that that made good sense. And it turned out that the general did indeed have an idea of what to do with Harry's powers. They asked him if he could transfigure or conjure larger, more complex items then bullets, and when he answered in the affirmative with a caveat, they brought him to several cracked and malformed cannons which had failed their firing tests, asking him to turn them into workable pieces. After looking at a working cannon, Harry could do that, using a Reparo technique to repair what damage he could, then strengthening them.

He was also asked to transfigure bits of coal and other metal into canister rounds, lots and lots of canister rounds. The image of what they would do to the invading army made him shiver. But he knew intellectually that there was no real difference between what a canister round could do when fired to some of the things he had done in the past with Bombarda or Reducto techniques.

He and Aayla worked alongside one another for a time, silent to the rest of the world, while talking to one another quietly about the upcoming battle and what they would have to do. Giving what they were already doing, there was little left that Harry would be keeping secret, and if there was any time to go all out, this was it.

They were also listening in on the locals and asking questions to learn about the planet. It turned out that while the Sundering, as they had called it, cut off this planet from the rest of the universe like all the others in the sector, it had really hurt this planet. There were no gas giants in this system, so there was no local source for the gas needed to power most of the modern Republic technology, from blasters to engines. There was also a massive war between a few of the nations on the planet directly after the Sundering, which had further shattered the planet's infrastructure. From that point the tech had simply collapsed until they reached a level that the planet could sustain on its own. It had been like high end physicists trying to figure out how to work a lathe and smithy. It took a while, and a lot had been lost very quickly.

As dawn broke, Lily came back from both checking out the enemy army, and Quinlan's progress. "He's got five of them ready at this point, and seven more that he should have finished within the next few hours. The droids have been a decent help, but we're running into bottlenecks on parts, as usual," she reported.

"And Master Giiett and Master Fay?" Alecto asked.

"Master Fay is still asleep, and Quinlan says she still isn't really ready to wake up. She really exhausted herself fighting that plague," Lily said fondly, shaking her head. "As for Micah, he was up and moving around. The two of them were talking as I left, but he didn't have any other orders for you other than to trust your judgment."

"Damn," Harry said mildly, nodding at his mother while ignoring the looks of the locals as Harry seemingly carried on a conversation with thin air. "I'd sort of been hoping for him to come up with some kind of brilliant scheme to get us and these people out of this without a pitched battle, but I suppose that even the Force has some limitations."

She sighed, looking around at the army. "I suppose some things never change. The nature of the universe, and you being too damn noble for your own bloody good, Harry Potter!" Lily said with a wan chuckle.

"I like to think I come by it naturally," Harry said, smiling up at her impishly.

"You do that." Lily said then went on more seriously. "I'll head out again to look at the army out there, see if they have any specific plans we need to know about more than roar and charge. I also want to make certain that I know who all the leaders are."

Harry nodded, becoming serious in turn. "When you get back, go straight to Alecto to tell him how to recognize them. He's far and away the best shot of all of us." Harry looked over to where Alecto was still working on his own with the earth, creating large towers here and there within the camp. Some of them would be turned into cannon towers, while others were for the general and his officers to have a view of the battlefield.

Lily nodded again and kissed his forehead on his scar before moving off.

"They moved the earth with a wave of their hands, walk unseen unless they want to be, and speak to spirits and conjure things out of thin air. Truly, the Jedi are wizards indeed," one of the locals whispered nearby.

Harry and Aayla exchanged a look at that, then went back to work, while inside their heads their mental avatars collapsed to their knees in laughter.

As they had expected, the Horde moved forward quickly once dawn broke, clans and sections of clans moving forward till just out of cannon range, hooting and hollering, their drums and whistles blaring as they began to pump up the blood of their warriors for the battle to come. Harry, Aayla, and Alecto stood on the ramparts, staring out at the Horde as it slowly coalesced.

"Do you think they'll honor parlay?" Harry asked as he stared out over the incoming Horde. They were moving slowly for their species now, resting up for the final charge once they got within range.

"Maybe if only to taunt us," Aayla said with a shrug. "But that shouldn't matter. We're trying to buy time, remember?"

Harry nodded before conjuring a white flag. With that done he hopped down, moving forward as the Horde began to come into sight.

He cast a technique on his throat and shouted, his voice coming out in a bellow, the Jedi technique automatically translating his words in the minds of his listeners. "Parlay! I call for parlay!"

For a moment it looked as if the Horde was going to disregard that despite the Force assisted bellow. But then one larger than average Horde member, his scales noticeably thicker and also grayer than the others, started to roar out instructions for them to back away, and he moved forward with about fourteen others of similar stature, stabbing their spears into the ground and crossing their arms as they stared first at Harry, then at the tall wall behind him. "Why should we deal with you, spacefarer?"

"You know I come from the stars?"

"We have legends of spacefarers, you humani, coming from the stars with the nice soft tenties!" said one of the others, spitting to the side while one of the others leered at Aayla. "You came and you took the planet, but that was then! The star ways are closed to you now. The gods have given us the chance to regain our lands, to return to the cycle that was. We will not be stopped!"

"The people behind me have just as much right to their lives as you do," Harry said, channeling his inner Master Fay. "What have they done to you for you to feel such enmity? Would not trading for what you need be easier? Would not getting what you want without loss of life be easier?"

"We are not like them! We are the trueborn!" one of the reptilian centaurs shouted, looking affronted at the very idea of trading for what they needed. "We were here long before the star people came and befriended the Dheasia! They were created by the great Earth Father to serve us, but you star people broke the cycle. We will set it right!"

"If you continue to pursue this, myself and my friends will have to stand up against you," Harry said grimly, knowing the dialogue was going to end soon. "If you have knowledge of those who come from the stars, perhaps you have heard of Jedi. We are far stronger than we appear."

There was another moment of silence at that, but then raucous laughter broke out. "Jedi! Jedi! We have heard of Jedi, but you are few! We are many! What can you do against us? We are an army! We are the Horde! This parlay is over!"

Harry growled, but then reached deep within himself as he felt Aayla's wordless reassurance. _"Do it, Harry. We're ready."_

With that Harry began to glow, Force Light pouring out from him, causing the Horde leaders to shy away, even to retreat as he knelt, bringing one of his hands down onto the ground. "You want to know what kind of army?! This is **my** army!"

For years since Master Fay had first taken him as her apprentice, Harry had studied, experimented, and trained with transfiguration, conjuration, and Force Light most of all. This had allowed him to master the concept of Force Constructs to a degree that no one, no Jedi, Sith, wizard, witch, or Jed'ai, had ever come close to matching. And now he called on that ability to the greatest degree he ever had before.

All around Harry there appeared Jedi Masters, Knights, and the padawans of Clan Saa, their features so lifelike that Aayla and Alecto let out a gasp from behind Harry. These real-life constructs were interspersed with large, armored Knights astride chargers, armed with lances like those of the Horde.

Harry wavered slightly on his feet for a moment, but since most of these constructs were made of the Force, conjuring them into being did not take as much out of him as it would have if he had used straight up conjuration. And, like the Patronus charm Lily had taught him about as a starting point to this technique, the Force Constructs had some limited ability to act on their own as the animals, or, in this case, people, they were constructed to look like.

"Now," Harry roared, his voice magnified to such a level as to almost be a physical weapon. "You can bloody well come ahead, and we'll gladly be cutting your Horde to ribbons. Or you can retreat like intelligent beings, and we can talk about you inhabiting some of this land peaceably. There is more than enough land to go around from what I can see.

" _Really?"_ Aayla drawled, shaking her head from where she stood on the wall.

" _Moving straight to threats after proving you were not negotiating from a position of weakness is a legitimate tactic for discussion,"_ Harry shot back defensively.

Whatever Aayla might have replied was held back as the Horde behind their leaders roared and charged, the first rows firing their large slug throwers as they came. The Leaders too roared, many of them grabbing at their weapons and attacking Harry or the nearest Force Constructs. Others, the older, more experienced looking leaders, fell back, but Alecto took them under fire from his position on the wall. Single shots rang out, bolts of plasma taking three of the five retreating clan leaders in their backs or sides.

Harry activated his lightsaber quickly, bringing it up with a snap hiss to slice through the lance of one reptilian centaur before leaping clear back to the wall. "Defend this camp!" he shouted to his Constructs, sending the words out to them with a brief Force Pulse to accompany it.

The Horde charged forward, the entire army. The main camp's worth of troops, which alone outnumbered the allied army four to one, raced straight towards the wall and Harry's Force Constructs. They covered the intervening ground frightfully quickly, running into the hail of fire from the locals. Their armor and their armored hides seemed to halt a lot of the local bullets, but they still died in droves to the fire from the wall and the cannons.

Harry landed on the wall and watched as the first row of charging barbarians ran into the same problem their braver leaders had already discovered: the Force constructs were just that, creations of the Force, with no real substance to them. The warriors of the Horde could not hurt them any more than they could discern the Force in the first place.

The reverse, however, was not true, as two of those leaders had already found, bisected by the blades of the conjured Jedi who simply held their positions, cutting down any Horde member that came near them. The armored Knights, in contrast, had spurred forward on their chargers, slamming into the Horde's own charge such that they burst through in segments, running some of the Horde under their hooves while spitting or smashing others aside.

It wasn't enough. The Force Constructs and the defenses in place to face in this direction had a good chance of stopping this aspect of the assault. But elsewhere this was not the case. The two groups made up of younger, un-blooded, or clan-less warriors had skirted around the main charge, eager to encircle the allied army, though Harry doubted they had any idea of finding a weakness. No, they were simply wishing to come to grips with the defenders.

Cannons fired continually all around the camp, and the machine guns, rifles, and, above all, canister laden cannon wreaked a truly bloody slaughter, but the Horde didn't break. They didn't even seem to notice, dying in droves in the ditches until their bodies filled them end to end. There were over a hundred thousand warriors in both those wings, and they simply absorbed the losses and raced on.

Once they were close enough to the walls, they hurled makeshift grenades forward in places. Some they sent at the wall itself, intent on blasting through. As centaur-like creatures, they couldn't climb, but this wasn't the first wall defense they had come into contact with. What at first seemed like single grenades were actually long strings of grenades, the power of which blew chunks out of the wall. Any wall made of solid stone would have been shattered, but the wall Alecto had made was mostly made of earth and better absorbed this assault for a time.

Other grenades were thrown up among the locals, and they began to die. Others paused within rifle range to exchange fire with those on the wall, laying down covering fire for dedicated sappers.

With the main assault being bogged down by his Force Constructs, Harry looked over at his fellow padawans, who both nodded grimly. "The left, Harry," Aayla said. "The fear I can feel from the army is stronger in that direction."

"Alecto, do you want to stay here and see if you can shoot any more of their leaders?" Harry asked, already turning in the direction Aayla had indicated.

"No. Killing their leaders just seems to make them mad, darn it," Alecto muttered. He holstered his rifle in its sheath along his back and nodded to his friends. "Let's go."

" _How are you feeling, Harry?"_ Aayla sent via their link as they ran, leaping down into the camp and straight towards the left flank.  
 _"I'm…tired. That didn't take as much out of me as it would have years ago, thanks to Master Fay's training, but it sure as kriff wasn't easy on top of last night,"_ Harry sent back, then paused, gesturing into the air and concentrating for a brief moment.

He didn't conjure anything physical, but instead conjured illusory flying dragons and other things, with Aayla joining in quickly to supply his illusions with more realism. The illusions soared out and began to dive bomb down onto the Horde, all around the camp. There was a lot of consternation and confusion, which was what Harry was going for.

But despite being simple illusions it still took a lot out of his remaining reserves. And Aayla wasn't faring much better after last night, since her reserves were not as large to begin with. Alecto was even worse off, despite most of the power for the wall having come from Harry.

Alecto got ahead of them since they were busy concentrating on that the illusions and was the first to see segments of the wall being blown inwards from the explosives of the Horde sappers. Through these gaps in the wall the Horde streamed in, cutting down any of the army they could and firing up onto the wall or racing up the staircases set up here and there to close with the men on the walls. Dozens of the cannons in this segment of camp went silent, and the death toll began to mount. The generals ordered reserves in to stem the gap, but before they could get there the trio of padawans were there.

Cutting through the first barbarians to have gained the wall, the Jedi leaped down into the gap. Harry thrust out his hand, a massive Force Push crashing into and flinging the barbarians in the gap backwards like toys, but the nearest group that had already broken in turned to engage them, and the Horde absorbed this impact like a wave would have, continuing to crash forward. The Jedi were quickly surrounded, facing bullets flying at them from all sides and hundreds of reptilian centaurs attacking them with their short lances, while thousands more bayed for their blood.

Even as all three of them lashed out with Force Techniques and used Force Shields to ward off the bullets, they knew they were in danger of being overwhelmed through sheer numbers and weight of bodies. And if they could not close this gap, the horde's numbers would allow them win this despite the Jedi's best efforts. Worse, the fight was so in their face that Aayla and Alecto couldn't concentrate enough of their attention towards calling up their more destructive attacks.

"Bombarda!" Harry shouted, pushing as much energy as he could into the technique, watching as the blast of explosive Force energy erupted into the mass of barbarians in front of him. It also drained him to the point that he nearly stumbled, but Aayla was there, defending him until he could regain his breath. She nearly fell in turn, however, when she miscalculated how to redirect a few of the slugs the locals were firing, but Harry got his own blade up and between them at the last minute.

"This isn't working!" Aayla shouted so both Harry and Alecto could hear. The two boys merely nodded. Even with the advantages Force Precognition and their lightsabers gave them, there was only so much the three of them could do now. They had exhausted themselves to help the local army, and were now paying for it. There was just no way a trio of padawans, no matter how good they were individually, could hold back the tide of barbarians.

 _No, no trio of padawans individually could… But as a team…? "Aayla!"_ Harry shouted via their link.

As soon as he'd had the thought Aayla had picked up on it and knew that it was probably their only salvation. "Alecto, open yourself to me!" she shouted.

The thought was a simple one: Harry and Aayla worked together on an almost instinctual level when they weren't trying. When they were trying, when they used their link to its greatest degree while in combat, they formed a team that was nigh unassailable. They'd never tried it under such circumstances as these, and they were both far more tired than they had ever been before when trying to do so, but the theory was sound.

The idea of bringing in a third person was also sound, if untried. They had brought Master Fay into their bond, Kass and Mak for practice, and even Master Giiett for a very brief moment. And adding a third to the link should theoretically make the bonded trio more effective, like a stool with three legs being stronger than one with two legs.

In theory. In reality, under stressful conditions, it was a toss-up as to whether it would work at all.

Alecto gaped at the two lovers, then out at the slowly reforming Horde, while behind them the barbarians which had already passed through the choke point clashed with the army reserves. They'd stopped the slaughter of gunners and there were no more barbarians trying to get up the inside of the wall at the defenders, but a goodly portion of the cannons had been wrecked by this time, as the Horde's use of grenades had proven devilishly effective. So none of the cannons could be used to secure the gap.

That left it up to the trio of padawans, who right now had barely any Force strength left between them. _Desperate times call for desperate measures,_ Alecto thought grimly, before closing his eyes, lowering his defenses, and looking Aayla in the eyes.

In turn Aayla and Harry lowered their defenses. With Aayla's empathic ability guiding them they reached out and…

Suddenly Alecto was there, within their mindscape, staring down at the twin worlds, the night-side Ryloth sphere that was Harry's mental world with the rock ship of Aayla's world orbiting above it. His own mental plane was a 3D maze made of different pieces of timber, now floating in-between the other two.

At the same time, his thoughts, some of his deepest buried secrets, flashed out, shared in this place because he had been worried about sharing them a moment ago. Like in the trial of Spirit, the more you thought about it, the more it was prevalent in your mind, which meant that here, Aayla and Harry could see it.

They could see some of his anxiety when they were younger at how much Harry outshone Alecto, who had thought he would be the older, wiser student of the two. They saw his irritation at being slower than some of the other Clan students at the Temple; they saw how he was jeered at for learning lightsaber skills so slowly, for being the first to learn the Shield Charm and the last to learn any of the other techniques. They saw how his first master had derided his skills and told him to abandon them along with his emotions if he wanted to become a better Jedi.

"Bah, he's a rock: rock for brains, rock for reflexes, rock-head for learning," jeered some of the older padawans after he couldn't learn some of the lightsaber skills or had fallen behind in math or one of the other everyday classes.

" _So you're a rock._ _ **Our**_ _rock, Alecto,"_ Harry replied, with Aayla's mental voice shouting encouragement. The two of them matched each of his bad memories from the Temple or with his master or even before that with the times when he'd helped them. When Alecto had made them laugh, helped Harry get used to life in the Order, helped Aayla deal with her own irritation at the Temple, the adventures they'd had since starting this journey… How much Alecto had helped.

Harry's mental comments that the pair of them had had a lot of unhappy memories about dealing with the Temple and certain members of the Council of First Knowledge were deemed Not Helpful. Though shouting at him did help Alecto laugh.

And just like that, Alecto's buried insecurities and anxieties disappeared, and he actually laughed. He laughed in the real world, a sound, loud and clear, thrown in the face of the horde as the three padawans moved into a triangle, holding the breach.

The Horde made no notice of the laughter and closed in, firing as they came. But the Jedi moved as one unit, a fused gestalt that would have put the greatest blade master to shame. Since they were defending a single spot rather than moving around, Aayla forwent her normal Ataru style, merging instead with Harry's Shien and Alecto's Soresu. Harry's Shien helped them against the bullets, the heavier ripostes of that style being better for redirecting the heavy slugs of their enemies, while Alecto's Soresu could adapt easily to fighting the odd lances of the horde rather than blasters or lightsabers.

Harry routinely called up Force Shields to defend them for a few moments as they rested, while Aayla and Alecto used earth or air to disrupt larger attacks. But in the main, they had to rely on lightsabers and Force Precognition.

Alone, it would not have been enough. Together, it was. The three padawans held until the roar of starfighters in atmosphere reached their ears, followed quickly by the 'Pshew' sounds of heavy blasters ripping into the Horde. They held until the Horde broke upon them, moving into the realm of local legend.

 **End flashback**

Chuckling as he remembered the look on Fay's face when she woke up, Micah returned to the here and now. _'_ Can't let you out of my sight for a moment _,' indeed. Well, at least with her aid we were able to broker a piece between the Horde and the allies._

Master Giiett left his room, walking the corridors of the ship for a time. He could feel his padawan working in one of _Bane_ 's cargo holds for some reason and moved in that direction. Alecto was supposed to be working with Quinlan at the moment on his lightsaber skills, since Micah had been on duty on the bridge last night and thus was allowed to sleep in that morning. And Quinlan was… Giiett paused in his steps for a moment, frowning as he sensed that the Knight was in the training area where he was supposed to be.

As he walked the _Bane_ 's corridors, Master Giiett folded his hands in his robes, smiling as he entered the first of the two hydroponic gardens. The bright lights of runes above him drew his attention, and he smiled, seeing them, before staring out over the expanse of this first section, hearing the twitter of birds and the chuff of distant creatures. Out of the eight cargo holds of the _Tyrant's Bane_ , five of them had been enlarged by this point.

One had been enlarged just enough to house the planetary shield generator and numerous 'fabbers.' That section wasn't fully online yet and wouldn't be until the ship had access to a lot more electronic parts than they had found on this voyage or had been able to take from Serenno clandestinely. They had raw material aplenty, and the fabbers they'd picked up at Harry's insistence would help in churning out more parts, but the computer systems controlling them were not ready just yet.

But the shields were now fully operational, at least. The _Tyrant's Bane_ didn't have the starfighter punch that a typical Lucrehulk had, but defensively was a different story entirely.

This cargo hold had been turned into a jungle with transplanted plants from several different worlds competing, creating a unique bio-system. They were watched by various heavy droids, and there were dozens of different kinds of animals in here as well. Aayla had led the way in its creation, and Micah felt it was a marvel, far larger than the Temple's equivalent space. They got their spices here, on top being a prime spot for mediation on the Living Force.

He nodded to a few droids moving through the jungle, heading through it towards the real farms. This area was like the jungle, but turned over to agriculture in a far more organized fashion, dotted with farms of all sorts, including those that contained livestock on them. The livestock had come from the plague planet and were their newest addition, but Micah could already see them, an animal that looked like a sheep crossed with a bantha but without the smell, being a major source of trade in the future.

 _Enough farms to feed a continent for weeks_ , Micah thought, still feeling a sense of wonder as he stared across the expanse. _And all in a single Lucrehulk class ship._ Oh, a normal Lucrehulk could, of course, actually transport enough food to feed a continent in protein packs and emergency food rations. But grow fresh food and in just one of its cargo holds? It was at times like this that Master Giiett truly fundamentally realized how their perception of the Force had changed since Harry and Lily had arrived in this universe.

"Master," Alecto said, getting out from under one of the larger farm droids, a massive combine with a droid's body in lieu of actual operator. Before Giiett could say anything, the young Duros, who had aged into a fine young man over the past years, went on. "I'm sorry I'm not at practice with Master Vos, but six of the droids somehow developed a virus on that last planet that took a while to get through their firewalls, somehow sort of sticking there until they got through rather than being deleted. I've been dealing with it all this morning."

"That's not good," Giiett said mildly, reaching out to grip his padawan's shoulder lightly. "Still, I trusted you had a good reason. Was it an actual attack, or just malware?"

"Just regular malware, I think, master. The last planet really had a very sophisticated Internet system, and our droids just didn't have appropriate protections against it."

"Yes, the infamous repeating 800 numbers. I don't think I've ever seen so many advertisements for male sexual enhancement before," Micah replied drolly. "If the perpetrators had been human I might have felt rather jealous."

The two of them laughed, but then Micah squeezed his padawan's shoulder. "However, did you inform Master Vos that you would be late?"

Alecto paused, then sighed and bowed his head. "No, master."

"In that case, I think you will have to both apologize and volunteer for some extra training," Giiett said somewhat sadly before pausing. "However, I think that might have to wait for later…"

Micah had just felt a tingle of anticipation through the Force. A moment later he felt Master Fay reach out to him and the others. "I believe Master Fay might want us on the bridge," he said dryly, but Alecto had already turned in that direction staring through the walls towards the bridge. "Where are Harry and Aayla this morning?"

"It's supposed to be their day off training, master," Alecto replied, looking at his master askance.

Giiett sighed. "Yes, I did just ask a rather stupid question, didn't I?"

 **OOOOOOO**

 **Warning Lemon incoming:**

Letting out a moan, Aayla threw back her head, meeting Harry's lips with her own as he slowly ran his length in and out of her from behind. His hips moved on their own, crashing into her backstrokes, while his hands were busy elsewhere. One was across Aayla's chest, his fingers playing with her purple nipple and helping to hold her upright while he pounded her body slowly into so much orgasmic mush. The other was playing with her Tchin, her leftmost lek.

Their lovemaking had started slowly and lovingly as it always did. Both of them reveled in bringing the other pleasure, that pleasure feeding the pleasure they felt via the mental plane. That link seemed to carry more from the physical to the mental than vice-versa for some reason, which they both supposed could be set down to their Occlumency shields. But eventually, as it always did, their lovemaking became somewhat frenetic after the first hour or so of interspersed foreplay.

Deciding that she had enough of being almost entirely on the receiving end, Aayla pulled forward slightly, pushing back with one hand to push Harry away from her before turning. As Harry sat with his back against the wall beside their bed, Aayla crawled into his lap, reaching down as they whispered I-love-yous to one another both verbally and mentally. So conjoined were they via their bond that both of them felt both aspects of the act as she slid Harry's cock home into her aching flower. So intense was the pleasure loop, the physical feeding into the mental and vice versa, that Aayla let out a scream, throwing her head back,

Harry was in similar straits, but he had enough presence of mind to add to his lover's pleasure, leaning down to take one of her purple nipples into his mouth. The spicy taste of Aayla's sweat merged with the somewhat rubbery texture of the nipple as Harry worked it with his tongue, lashing it from side to side before sucking lightly, then, feeling Aayla's response, harder.

As this was going on Aayla recovered from the overwhelming moment of pleasure to find that Harry was concentrating on her nipple so much both because he really enjoyed playing with them and as a way to not let the sensation of his cock being squeezed by her insides overwhelm him. _Heh, well that will never do._ With that thought Aayla took command of their coupling, pulling back just enough to somehow loop her legs around Harry's waist, then beginning to use her thigh muscles alone to bounce up and down on his shaft, moaning in happiness as she felt Harry's pleasure rising along with her own. One hand clasped the back of his neck, while the fingers of her other hand wound through his hair. Unlike her disgust for hair anywhere else, Aayla actually enjoyed the feel of Harry's sweaty, perpetually windswept hair. It felt silky smooth under her fingers, not so coarse. _And on his head there's little chance that it sticks in my teeth or gets up my nose._

Feeling that thought and the gurgling laughter accompanying it, Harry responded in kind before pulling away from Aayla nipples to first lick and bite at her neck and lekku before capturing her lips with his. Then he began to match Aayla's thrusts down with his own thrusts upward. _"Fuck, Aayla! You feel sooo good around me, love! I can never get enough of this!"_

" _Mmmmm, me too, Harry! Oh God, I love you so much, so much!"_ Aayla replied.

" _Always, always love you!"_ Harry roared mentally, the cycle of pleasure once more overwhelming them. That was a problem with their coupling like this, if it could be called that: once they were conjoined so tightly like this, their minds and bodies merging, the pleasure became too intense for them to keep going for very long.

Soon that pleasure started to rise to another crescendo. Feeling it coming, Harry grabbed Aayla's ass with his hands, forcefully lifting her up just enough to lay her back down on the bed, never stopping as he continued to saw in and out of her. Finally Aayla humped up against his downward thrusts once more, her whole body going rigid, her legs splaying out from where they had been locked around Harry's waist as her eyes rolled back in her head, her lekku also going rigid.

A second before his lover's pleasure overrode his self-control, Harry pulled his cock out just in time. The instant he was out Harry erupted all over Aayla stomach, several shots going so far as to hit the undersides of her breasts.

 **End Lemon**

As his seed flowed down Aayla's side, Harry smiled as he felt her thanks and surging love through their connection. It was very, **very** hard to pull out of her like that, but they had run out of contraceptive pills and condoms nearly a year ago after leaving the Dheas homeworld.

Harry routinely cursed himself for not thinking to try and copy the contraceptive pills when they had them. But none of them had any idea what went into those pills, and they hadn't yet found a planet that had anything they could use. The last few planets they had seen hadn't had any kind of contraceptives that could work on humans or Twi'lek, their inhabitants having been gas breathers. Harry still could conjure up condoms, of course, but they had no wish to even tempt fate, and it was a serious issue since, as they had seen on the Horde world, Twi'lek and humans could breed, so pulling out was a necessity.

" _I want to be a mother some day, Harry, but not right now, so thank you,"_ Aayla said, feeling Harry's rueful agreement even as she said the words aloud.

It had not taken the two lovers very long after they had left the Republic behind to take this final step in their relationship. This had surprised no one, though the two of them had been surprised by how differently going all the way physically differed from their mental attempts to do the same. The pain of Aayla's first time had been very real and had carried through the link so much that it had nearly been enough of a turn off to cause them to almost stop, so shocking it had been.

They had come through it, however and ever since their lovemaking had become part of their relationship. They didn't, as Alecto had once crudely put it after trying a juice made from an unknown fruit which acted on him like rotgut, "go at it like Rancors'". Most days they were just too tired from all of their duties and training by the time they got to bed. They made love inside their heads every night, as they had for the first year of their travels aboard the _Bane_ , but that was a far cry from the physical expression of their love. So they did it as often as they could, and their relationship had somehow deepened because of it.

They exchanged a slow, languid kiss, both of them thinking about whether they could get away with starting another session. But then they felt Master Fay reaching out for them mentally, and Harry quickly responded with the mental equivalent of a, 'be right there.' The lovers had quickly learned to respond to such mental nudges promptly, lest Master Fay or someone else send a stronger probe their way. The blushes Quinlan and Fay had when the two lovers showed up on the bridge after that had been fun, but not something any of them wanted to see again.

Harry quickly hopped off of Aayla, while Aayla lay back, taking a moment to watch him move through their shared room, smiling at what she, admittedly from a biased point of view, thought was the most attractive male ass in the galaxy. He turned to her dryly, sending back the thought, "It takes one to know one, love," causing Aayla to let loose a gurgle of laughter.

Even as she did, though, she felt a sense of triumph as her eyes shifted once more down to his genitalia, which was completely hairless. Aayla had never gotten used to the hairs down there, so Harry had figured out a way to use the body morphing technique to completely stop hair from growing back down there as a birthday present to her.

In return, Aayla had grown her breasts somewhat. Not to the point where it was completely stupid, but to the point where they were certainly a little larger than they would naturally have been.

Now she preened a little as Harry paused in his pulling on his pants to look at her as she stood up, her breasts and lekku twitching as she moved.

" _None of that, love,"_ Harryadmonished, shaking his head. _"You won't tempt me into trying to convince us to stay in bed again. You felt Master Fay just like I did."_

"True," Aayla said with a chuckle, turning around quickly and moving to the dresser they shared without any further overtly flirtatious moves. The anticipation they had felt in Master Fay's mental sending was such that both knew immediately what was happening. They were there: they were at Ruusan.

As the two of them had known would be the case, the others had already gathered on the bridge, watching Master Fay, who had once more taken the captain's chair, her eyes closed in meditation. "We are almost at the center of the disturbance in the Force," she said simply, her eyes not opening as she addressed them all. "We will be coming out within the next three minutes, and I wish us to be prepared for anything."

"Do you expect physical danger, master?" Harry asked. He could feel the oddity that they were closing with, though couldn't really tell anything else about it in hyperspace like this. Nor could any of the other Jedi save for the two Masters.

"It is not impossible that we will face physical threats, though I believe that the majority of the threats we face will be more metaphysical in nature," Fay replied in a roundabout manner.

As the others looked at her, Fay opened her eyes and smiled at them all even as Micah closed his own, concentrating on sending his mind out in turn. "The Dark Side and the Light Side are literally at war with one another at Ruusan. It reverberates around the system as if the Thought Bomb that ended the New Sith Wars and killed most of the Army of Light had just gone off rather than a thousand years ago. What odd permutations this might've caused in the physical realm I do not know and cannot predict. My senses are swamped with it, so you'll forgive me for not being any more clear."

Harry moved over with Aayla as one, putting their arms around Fay in a wordless hug, with Lily resting both of her ethereal hands on Fay's shoulders. Behind them Alecto and Quinlan looked on, concern visible on their faces. All of them remembered how she had nearly killed herself fighting the plague and had no wish to ever see it again.

Her fingers twisting into Lily's ethereal ones and Harry's physical ones, Fay smiled. "I'm not close to collapse, dears. It's just that I've been feeling this for the last few hours, and it's beginning to wear on me. The emotions both sides of that conflict felt are still there in the Force, and they are hammering at my mind now. It's making me a bit…"

"Tetchy," Lily supplied from her position behind her friend.

"…That works for now, yes," Fay replied dryly, looking up at her friend. Lily had been there throughout it all, and talking to the ghost had soothed her

The other Jedi exchanged glances. "Will we have to deal with the same kind of thing?"

"I'm afraid so. Coming here was necessary, but the Force never indicated it would be simple."

"I suggest we all take a few moments to shore up our mental barriers," Harry said, looking at the others. "Just in case."

Fay nodded grimly. "I've been doing that ever since we got close enough for me to feel what was going on. You'll need to devote at least part of your attention to it at all times while we are in this system."

Quinlan and Alecto both winced at that. Their mental defenses were not as strong as those of the rest. Quinlan in particular was vulnerable to being attacked mentally, thanks to his powers as a Kiffar.

"We're coming out of hyperspace," Lily said, having kept one eye on the hyperspace computer. Harry idly noticed that she and Fay were still holding hands, despite the drain it must have been putting on both of them. "I'd say, prepare yourselves, everybody."

The ship came out of hyperspace into a system that had numerous planets but no sign of space-faring life. There was a bright yellow star close in while another white dwarf was in the distance. At least two of the planets were in the life bearing range, the others were either too far away or two close. Already they could see that many of the moons and outer planets were pockmarked, signs of ancient battles still evident, preserved by the lack of atmosphere. But the view of the system was nothing in comparison to the feel of the place.

Hate, anger, fear, **fear** , determination, shock, grim understanding, **hate** , resolve, a love of duty, a love of people, cold rage, obsession. All these emotions and more whirled around them as they entered, hammering the Jedi's minds like a tornado against a series of bunkers. The emotions were not accompanied by any specific imagery, they were just there in the ether, trying to overwhelm their senses.

"Pull back your Force sense as much is possible," Fay ordered, gritting her teeth as they all reeled under the assault.

Now within the system, the effect was far, far greater than she had felt in hyperspace. Quinlan in particular looked as if he was fighting himself. His hands were clenching and unclenching, his teeth grinding, and his breath coming in short, sharp gasps. Harry and Aayla had it slightly easier than the others, their shields reinforcing one another's, but even they were reeling slightly.

"Do not give into it. Do not let any of those emotions in, good or bad, light or dark. They are not yours. Do not let them affect you!" Lily said, her voice a mantra, almost, which the others used to latch onto before reinforcing their mental defenses as much as they could. This helped somewhat, but it was like standing on top of a dam as a tsunami hit. While it was still battering your senses you were in no danger so long as the dam stood, but you knew it could break at any moment.

Lily too was shuddering, the feelings and emotions hitting her despite her not actually having a physical brain for them to target. "This is not fun," Lily muttered. "This is not fun at all."

Harry and Aayla exchanged a glance, communing silently, before Aayla spoke for them both, looking at her master. "If anyone needs to rest, we can pull you behind our mental shields for a bit."

The older man hesitated, but nodded. The two lovers had developed a certain ability with that over the past few years: being able to temporarily join their minds to the other Jedi, bringing them into their mental planes as they had Alecto during the battle against the Horde. Here, that would actually allow the Jedi to rest the themselves mentally. It would put somewhat more of a strain on the two of them, but the two of them were withstanding this mental choas better than anyone else, even Master Fay.

"I'll take you up on that at some point, I think," Quinlan said with a smile at his padawan.

"Harry, give us something to concentrate on," Lily ordered. "Tell us what's on the sensors, someone. And Fay or Micah, you tell us about the history of the place." They had, of course, all heard about the New Sith Wars and what had occurred here, but it would allow them to concentrate on something real for a time until they got used to the new mental strain.

"Sensors indicate some plant life, but not a lot. Most of the planet is arid; the seas have receded dramatically," Harry reported as the giant ship moved through the space lanes of the dead world. "The plant life is mostly concentrated around a few equatorial regions. The southern hemisphere is dominated by a series of giant mountain ranges with scattered plant life, though not a lot. The northern hemisphere has a few scattered craters and what might have been settlements. Nothing in orbit, of course, but I can see some signs of nomads out there. Humans maybe, but definitely not a large population. Um… There could be something else there, but our scanners aren't good enough for me to tell."

"That matches with what we expected," Lily said, looking over Master Fay.

Fay nodded, then elaborated. "We know the planet was inhabited at one point after the war by non-Force sensitives. But when the hyperspace lanes began to disappear, the planet was evacuated."

"What are we looking for exactly, do you think?" Harry asked. Having pulled in his Force senses, he could no longer tell what they were supposed to be doing here. He knew that they were here to find him a lightsaber crystal, but how, and why here, of all places, eluded him.

"That is up to you, Harry," Master Fay said firmly. She gestured him over to her, and then to kneel in front of her as she put her hands on his shoulders. Lily swiftly joined her, her ethereal hands resting on either side of Harry's temples from behind, cold, yet immensely reassuring. "Reach out with the Force, Harry. Tell us where we are supposed to go."

"Okay…" Harry said, breathing in deeply. He looked over at Aayla, who quickly joined them, taking one of his hands in hers. These physical connections would work as a lifeline like Lily's earlier mantra as he sent his astral projection out into the Force.

It was like diving into a whirlpool. Harry had to fight to keep his mental projection in one piece. Trying to find a single string of light which would point him to where he had to go in the torrent of the shadow of memory made it even worse.

"It, it's called the Valley of the Jedi," he said aloud, his face strained, his knuckles white-streaked as one hand gripped Fay's hand and the other gripped Aayla's. "The Valley of the Jedi. It is a name that I am seeing, a place. A deep valley marked with statues of some kind. S, south somewhere on the southernmost hemisphere."

"That's enough, Harry. Come back to us," Lily ordered, her ethereal hands still on his temples. Fay and Aayla did the same with their free hands, their hands overlapping on his face. "Come back, Harry."

With their touch Harry was able to pull his consciousness back, and he almost physically felt the snap of Aayla's shields coming up around his mind as his projected self merged with the rest. He sagged against Master Fay's legs and felt Aayla's arms going around him. "By the Light, that was… Oooh wee, that was **really** tough!"

"Indeed, but it told me much," Master Fay said, running one hand through Harry's hair. "I think I know what we are here for, and it is not just to find you some lightsaber crystals, Harry."

"No," Harry said with a nod, while Aayla stiffened beside him, feeling the words before he said it, going through what he had felt out there and coming to the same conclusion. "It isn't. Those thoughts, those emotions we're feeling. They aren't just echoes of what those caught in the Thought Bomb were feeling when it went off."

"What do you mean?" Quinlan asked intently, while Alecto and Micah also frowned.

"They're actual psyches. I think both Jedi and Sith ghosts are trapped here, unable to pass on," Harry said, his voice ringing with certainty.

"You mean to say…that the Thought Bomb trapped them here," Giiett said slowly, his voice showing his horror at the idea quite clearly. "That both sides of that conflict have been trapped here for one thousand years? Why didn't the High Council try to free them before the nebula closed this place off from the rest of the galaxy?"

"I have no idea," Master Fay said tiredly. "I may be old, but I'm not **that** old! The only Jedi who was around back then who is still with us is Master Yoda, and even he was but a newly made padawan at the time, certainly not privy to the workings of the High Council."

"Maybe they couldn't. I mean, we all know that a lot of the ancient abilities of Jedi were lost around that time, right? And the best and brightest of the Jedi, both the High Council and the Jedi Lords, were part of the battle on Ruusan. Maybe no one survived who knew how to free them," Aayla said.

"Or maybe they thought the Thought Bomb was too dangerous," Alecto said. They looked at him, and the Duros snorted. "Maybe trying to research the after effects was too dangerous for any of them. Who among the Jedi Order even knew how to defend themselves like we can with Occlumency? The Jedi Order teaches us to be open and to send our thoughts out to filter through the Force for information, not to defend ourselves from it."

"That is a distinct possibility," Micah said with a nod. "Indeed, it makes too much sense for us to ignore."

"So… Will we be able to do it?" Quinlan asked, looking both determined and yet wary of the coming task. "After all, there are Sith minds out there, just as many as Jedi minds."

"I don't know," Lily said thoughtfully. "There were a few spells back in my and Harry's home dimension to exorcise ghosts. But they often failed depending on the power of the ghost or the individual doing the spell. I am uncertain if those kind of spells would even work in this dimension; we've never tried them before, after all. And these are Jedi. Their connection to the Force will be much more powerful than most ghosts I could think of."

Master Fay frowned thoughtfully, working it out in her head, but Harry was the first one to speak. "Their entrapment will be in two parts," he said, his voice still grimly certain. Next to him Aayla was still working through what he had sensed out there, but she still nodded agreement. "I felt it in the Force. There is a central hub, almost, something physical which is part of what keeping them here. Destroy that, and exorcising the various spirits will be possible."

"But if we do that, each spirit, I think, will need to be dealt with in turn," Aayla said, speaking up now, having reached her own conclusions from what Harry had sensed. "If we take out that physical thing, the spirits will gain in power."

"A mental fight, then," Quinlan said with distaste. "I'll admit that doesn't sound pleasant," he said, his irony and deadpan tone rather withering.

"Well, we won't be finding out anything more up here," Harry said philosophically. "Should we leave someone up here to guard the ship?"

"No," Fay replied. "There is no physical threat to us here. There's no sign of anything in space. The human's population seems to be preindustrial and nomadic at this point, and what I am sensing down there in terms of other species seem to be friendly enough."

"Those, what are they called again? The ones who look like furry balloons?" Harry asked.

"Bouncers, dear," Fay replied almost absentmindedly. "And yes, they are here. I feel as if they have been waiting for us for a long time. There is a sense of welcome there, buried beneath the rest of the Force miasma of this planet."

The other Jedi took turns to reach out, with Quinlan being the only one who didn't, fearing the effect it would have on his mental defenses. One after another the others all nodded, having felt the same thing.

"It will be fascinating to meet them, I think," Fay said. "An entire species of telepaths."

Harry and Aayla led the way, communing telepathically as was there wont. _"You do know that the majority of this fight will probably fall on you, Harry?" Aayla said. "You're the reason we're here, after all. This is supposed to be your…your trial, I think."_ The words were sent without rancor. After all, Aayla was precisely where she would want to be, but there was no use hiding the fact that they were here because of Harry.

" _I know,"_ Harry said with a sigh. _"But there's nothing for it. We'll just have to do the best we can like always. Together?"_

" _Like always, together!"_ Aayla said, squeezing his hand and sending a rush of love down their link, almost tempted to pull him into her mind completely for a moment to give him a more quasi-physical response to that statement, but not doing so. They tended to lose track of time in the real world when they did that kind of thing.

Moments later the Jedi headed down in their various starships as Master Fay directed them to a spot on the southern hemisphere where she felt the Bouncers were congregating to welcome them. The ships touched down, one after another, the Jedi getting out of them to look at the Bouncers as they approached. Master Fay stood forward, her hand raised in welcome as the other Jedi did the same.

The Bouncers were very odd to look at and even more odd to think about in terms of being sentient. Because, as Harry had said, they looked like large balloons covered with green hair. Their eyes were dark and luminous, indicating their nocturnal heritage. They had tentacles falling from their bodies which ended in spade like ends. Several of them were using these as feet to stand there as they watched the Jedi move towards them, while others were moving around through the air, these tentacles floating behind them like tails. Their only other features were little flaps on the sides of their main balloon-like bodies, which seemed to move and sway with them, aiding them in controlling where they went through the air. They had no mouths, but instead multiple small creases around their faces and nose which showed what limited change of mood or emotion they conveyed physically rather than mentally.

" _Greetings, Jedi,"_ said one of them, his telepathic voice echoing into Master Fay's mind. _"Fascinating. Your friends are closed to us somehow. We understand the reasoning, but if we could, we would speak with all."_

"A moment please, good Bouncer, _"_ Master Fay said, turning to her fellows and indicating that they needed to open small holes in their defenses to allow the Bouncers to communicate.

Once that was done she turned back, and the Bouncers addressed them all. _"Greetings, Light Sided ones. We have heard of your coming through our dreams. We dreamed a Jedi would come to free the souls trapped here so they could resume their journey to eternity. Many centuries they have been caught here, unable to leave, unable to go to their rest."_

"We understand. We have felt this problem through the Force. And we wish to do what we can to aid them," Harry said, stepping forward to join his master. Aayla and the others did as well, the Jedi forming a line with Lily floating between Master Fay and Harry. "But these spirits, even the Light Sided ones, are out of control. We feel them pushing in on us from all sides here. Can you help us get to the Valley quickly?"

" _We can,"_ the Bouncer replied. _"We know where it is. We can take you to it. But you must agree to something first. You must free all the spirits, Dark Side and Light Side both. There must be balance. We will not help you if you only seek to free the Light Side apparitions."_

"We will attempt to, but we cannot promise to free them all. We are here to make the attempt, but the future beyond this point is blocked to me," Fay said. "And I am the best at seeing the future of all of us here. If you can see more clearly, that could help us."

" _Your attempt is all anyone could ask. Certainty is for the young and the foolish,"_ one of the Bouncers said. His green hair was noticeably marked with white, here and there.

There was a sense of laughter from the others, and Harry grinned suddenly, feeling a little better for this conversation. The other Jedi felt that too and nodded at the Bouncers. "Lead the way, please."

As they walked the Jedi made small talk with the Bouncers. For some reason the telepathic communication with the locals helped to keep the emotions of this planet at bay. The Bouncers were somehow immune to it, and their telepathic communication gave the Jedi another anchor to their physical reality, further shielding them from the Force storm of emotions.

At least, that was what they thought, until one of the Bouncers burst their bubbles as darkness approached. "The spirits, they feel your presence. They know either their deliverance or damnation is at hand. They have pulled back and prepared for what is to come."

"That can be both good and bad," Harry said with a groan.

"It **is** both good and bad," the Bouncer said, no sense of irony or joke in it's mental tone. "Some will welcome it; some will attempt to cling to even this shadow of life. Others will attempt to take you over. I am sorry that we cannot help you further."

"You will have helped us enough if we can just get to the Valley. We sensed… Well, I sensed," Harry corrected himself sheepishly, "that there was a physical manifestation of the trap that the Jedi are in. Is that true?"

The Bouncers looked at one another, communicating amongst themselves, before a few of them replied. "Yes. There is a central orb, created during the Thought Bomb, which acts as the jail cell, almost, of the spirits. It will need to be destroyed before you can begin to dispel the spirits.

"But that too will be difficult. Others have tried, but only the Force can harm it at all."

"Well, in that case, at least the Light Side of the Force chose the right lance for this particular boil," Harry said dryly, causing his fellows to laugh.

With the Bouncers helping them it didn't take the group of Jedi very long to reach the Valley of the Jedi, with the Jedi using the Force to augment their bodies and the Bouncers simply bouncing around. Watching them move was just fun, Harry reflected, staring at a few of the smaller Bouncers. They were playing tag using little movements of their tentacles tails and ventrals to sweep around one another in an intricate dance even as they kept up with the rest of the group.

Soon, however, their simple enjoyment of the trip faded under the continuous battering assault from the despairing emotions of the Jedi and Sith trapped here. It wasn't quite a physical presence, but it certainly was battering at their mental senses.

More than once Harry and Aayla were asked to pull Alecto or Quinlan into their mental planes. Quinlan was not very comfortable with this and left almost as soon as he arrived. He simply wasn't comfortable with sharing all that he was like that. Alecto was better, having experienced it before during their battle gestalt. Micah and Master Fay needed no such help, and Lily, for all that she was fighting the feelings like they were, accompanied by a wind trying to push her away from them, persevered.

A bare few hours after they had started their journey from where they had landed, the Jedi and their guides reached their destination. The Valley in question was more of a gorge, in Harry's opinion, steep-sided and extremely rocky even at the entrance. But despite that, there was nothing really unusual about the site until you were so deep into the gorge that you had trouble seeing back the way you came. Then any visitor to the gorge ran into the statues.

These were massive monoliths, about three stories tall, carved into the living rock of the mountain that the gorge was set into. The Jedi noticed as they moved forward that each stature was different. One of them was wearing armor plate, another was dressed as a traditional Jedi, robe and all. Each of them had a replica of a lit lightsaber as part of the statue and were separated from their fellows by perhaps a yard or so of flat rock before the next statue began. As they continued onward, the statues slowly began to be almost pushed out of the rock, carved out, rather than carved into the stone. The effect was interesting: the further down into the valley you went, the more alive the statues seemed to appear.

"This is amazing," Master Fay said softly as they passed the third pair of statues. "I can almost recognize some of these from the Jedi archives. Their faces in particular are fantastically well-carved. Good Bouncer, who made these?"

" _The denizens of this planet made them with the aid of a few non-force survivors of the Army of Light. It took them twenty years, and they could barely leave the planet before the nebulae closed in around us."_ The Bouncer paused, seemingly pensive for a moment, then moved closer to the two Masters in the lead. _"Good Jedi, does your arrival mean that the nebula has settled down?"_

"We're afraid not. It took us many years to get here, and even if we had simply traveled in it would've taken two or so. We will make better time leaving since once this Force anomaly is dealt with, that should carry over into the physical realm," Master Micah said, shrugging his shoulders. "We will have to see."

"Might I ask why you ask? I can sense you are both interested and concerned about the idea of Ruusan being connected to the galaxy at large once more," Master Fay asked gently.

The Bouncer was silent for a moment, then replied slowly. "Those who come from off world bring great wonder and sorrow in equal measure. Our world was changed greatly one thousand years ago. We are not certain if we would rather welcome the greater universe back, or would prefer to stay in our exile."

"Say, rather, isolation. You did not make this choice, good Bouncer," Harry said from behind the two Masters, interrupting them while using the same form of address that Master Fay had. After all, none of the Bouncers had given them their names, if they even had individual names. "If the rest of the universe does come back, it will be your choice to let them in. This is your planet, and if we have anything to say about it, any offworlder will respect that."

There was a feeling of a chuckle from the Bouncers. "You speak well and honestly, young Jedi, and yet you also speak arrogantly. Do you think you could truly speak for all of the offworlders?"

"No, but we could, at least, try," Alecto said, moving up with Aayla to stand with Harry in an almost automatic expression of support.

Again there was a chuckle, but the conversation tapered off at that point as they had reached the section where the statues truly seemed to be coming out of the rock. Between the final two statues there was a slight raised dais on top of which was a stone throne, the back of it gone.

On top of the throne hovered a massive crystal of silver. It was taller than Master Quinlan, who was the tallest of them by an inch over Harry, and wider than any two of the Jedi shoulder to shoulder. As they watched the surface of the orb shifted under the faint light coming in from above them. It looked almost as if something was inside it, and some pinkish and orange light glimmered from within.

The sight took the Jedi's breath away for more than one reason. It was gorgeous, but it was also both the center of the Force storm that they had been weathering since coming into the system, and was wrong. Fundamentally, completely, bizarrely **wrong**! The mere sight of the thing made all of the Jedi shiver, fear coming into even Master Fay's mind as they looked at it. "That, that hast to be the physical sign of the spirits' subjugation."

"That is the Thought Bomb itself, I would wager," Master Fay said, frowning in something approaching anger. For Fay, this was a sign of something closer to fury than any of the others had ever seen her show before.

"How do we do this?" Harry asked intently, his fingers flexing violently. "Do we just launch Bombarda techniques at it? Just shatter the thing? Do we have to be in physical contact with it?"

" _I would not recommend that,"_ one of the Bouncers said, his telepathic voice somehow dry. _"When the statues were being carved, several workers attempted to touch that orb. Their reasons are not known to me, of course. I was not around at the time. All of them died. Their bodies were taken away by their fellows, but none ever dared to touch it again."_

"And the Jedi at the time could not deal with it," Master Fay said. "That points to the need for the techniques you and Harry have introduced, Lily."

"Agreed," Lily said, frowning in thought as she moved ahead of the others, floating in the air a few feet away from the orb. "I wonder if I could touch it."

"No!" Harry exclaimed along with Fay. "We have no idea what would happen, mom. You might be sucked into the thing for all we know!"

"It was just a thought, dear," Lily said, scowling and turning her head away so that neither of the others could see it. After all these years Lily was rather used to being a ghost, but that didn't mean that it had become any easier to see her son in danger while she simply stood by, unable to help. Admittedly, she had discovered ways to do so, as had been shown against the Horde. But she still had a tendency to want to protect him physically.

"I believe Bombarda techniques. Yes, our most destructive pure Force techniques. I doubt that anything with a physical component will be effective here," Master Fay said, gesturing for Lily to join them as they all backed away. "Form a circle around it; attack from all sides."

"That sounded surprisingly martial for you, Master Fay," Micah said in an effort to alleviate the gravity of the situation.

The quip fell somewhat flat, but everyone still smiled, moving around the thing. Lily joined them in the circle, hovering between Harry and Aayla, with Master Fay on his other side. To Fay's other side sat Alecto, then Master Giiett, then Knight Vos who sat next to Aayla on her other side. As one the Jedi lifted their hands, holding them out towards the Thought Bomb.

The techniques lashed out, crashing into the silver orb from every direction. As the Jedi poured their will power into their techniques, the silver seemed to shimmer, trying to take in their power but failing, the shape of that power thwarting its ability to absorb the Force. Minutes into their attack, the silver of the thing began to crack, then crumble away into what looked like dust, the light within flickering and becoming more and more visible.

Suddenly there was a cacophonous roar as the orb seemed to give up the ghost, shattering into a thousand pieces, each of them dissolving into nothing, releasing the energy within. That energy was only barely felt on the physical plane, but in the Force it reverberated, and the Jedi staggered back as if they had been hammered by a tornado. At the same time, all of them could feel a vast susurration in the Force as the spirits within the Thought Bomb were released from the physical trap which had contained them within.

Most of the spirits moved on in that moment. Harry realized with a jolt that the spirits, both Sith and Jedi, who had passed on had understood the great answer to all wars: that in the end the dead are all the same, and the only winners are the crows.

 _Wiser by far than their former lords and masters, then,_ Harry thought sardonically. He could feel that the vast majority of the Jedi passed on then, leaving only those who had an ax to grind, or had, perhaps, been driven mad in the centuries trapped with their Sith adversaries in the Thought Bomb. But there were over a dozen, perhaps more like two dozen, Dark Side ghosts in the ether around them.

"That was perhaps the easiest part," Master Fay said after the physical repercussions had faded. "Now comes the difficult part of exorcising the remaining spirits." She looked around at the other Jedi seriously. If she had thought for a moment that she could do this alone or even with just Master Micah, she would probably have ordered the others to leave at this point. But feeling the power reverberating in the Force around them, she knew that would be impossible.

 _And better to risk them now then to risk those spirits remaining here. Besides, this is Harry's task for some reason. His techniques allowed us to destroy the remnants of the Thought Bomb, and I think his and Aayla's bond will allow the two of them, at least, to deal with the remainder._

"We might as well get comfortable, then," Harry said, thinking for a moment before gesturing around the circle of Jedi. Chairs appeared there, simple affairs, but comfortable enough.

They all sat down before looking at Master Fay. "The Force be with us," she said simply, pulling her legs underneath her as she began to meditate to send her consciousness out into the Force to do battle with the remaining spirits.

The others followed her example, Harry and Aayla sending a final 'I love you' to one another before concentrating and sending out their thoughts into the Force at large. As Master Fay had known, this acted like a lightning rod attracting all of the remaining spirits to them. And all the spirits who had refused to rejoin the Force attacked them, Jedi and Sith both.

Harry found himself elsewhere, the Valley gone, or perhaps its time rewound to a thousand years ago. The sky above was red, casting shadows from the rock faces all around, but the walls of the valley were far wider and less sharply defined. _So this is some kind of mental plane, then? Or the land between the living and the dead?_

Behind him Harry could feel his connection to Aayla, like a bridge coming out of his back into the sky and beyond. Unblemished and perfect, it shimmered with pure platinum light, helping Harry to center himself.

Around him, Harry could feel the personalities of the trapped Jedi and Sith coalescing, preparing to strike. Here this was represented to him by a heavy cloud bank of some kind appearing all around him, obscuring everything.

Before they could attack, Aayla appeared there too, her mental representation stepping out of midair and landing lightly on her feet next to Harry. For some reason their connection was still there in the sky, heading off somewhere from her back just as did Harry's. " _So our main minds, I suppose you could say, are still back there somewhere on the physical plane. But we shouldn't be complacent,"_ Harry warned via their link.

Aayla nodded, then, to their great shock, Lily appeared there as well. She too was connected to Harry by a thin, almost invisible thread. Here, however, her body looked to be actually solid, her body dressed like a Jedi Master's for some reason, rather than the clothing she had been murdered in. "My, but this is a surprise, though a pleasant one," Lily said, showing a true British woman's mastery of understatement.

She smiled then, looking down at herself and then to her son, reaching to clasp his body to her and leaning in to kiss his forehead. For only the second time in his entire life Harry felt his genetic mother's physical touch, and he trembled slightly as he hugged her tightly.

A moment later, however, Aayla sent him a nonverbal warning, and the two Potters shifted their attention elsewhere. The two Jedi padawans moved back to back, their lightsabers coming out. Harry's was still the green-bladed lightsaber that Quinlan had taken from Aurra Sing. But both of them waited to activate them, staring out into the mist surrounding them.

There was a vast push towards them, and the mist coalesced into a few individuals, while the rest of the mist simply boiled forward. Realizing somehow that the mist itself was also a threat, Lily raced forward, her hands outstretched. The air around her hands reacted to Lily's will slamming the mist away. As it did, ghost-like figures, tortured faces of dozens of people representing almost as many races, appeared there, wailing and trying to get around the mother bear. "You will not have them! You will not have my children, you bastards!" Lily roared into their teeth, her hands flaring with the Force as she struck out at them.

This left Harry and Aayla to deal with five attackers whose sense of self was still strong enough to allow them to form physical bodies here in the realm between the living and the dead. Three of them were Sith, their lightsabers blazing red as they moved to attack the two Jedi from one side. The other two were Jedi, and they too moved to attack the two padawans from the other side of their former adversaries.

"Is it just me, or is there something wrong with the fact that all of you are attacking us rather than one another?" Harry asked sardonically, his voice carrying to both Sith and Jedi.

"Foolish boy!" spat one of the Sith, standing forward slightly from his fellows. His skin was reddish, a little darker, maybe, then their friend Zule's. He had long, black hair down to his shoulders, lanky and unkempt, framing an angular face that might once have been handsome. However, the face was dominated by eyes of pure yellow, and a rictus of madness had set into his sneer.

"The Jedi spirits might think themselves free, but they are not!" the man continued. "They are subservient to me! They cannot see myself or my Sith brethren; all they can see are you, and you have flaws enough to infuriate any right thinking Jedi."

"Yeah, I call bullshit on that one," Harry said, cracking his neck explosively as he activated his lightsaber. "Still, it makes my job a little easier."

But to his surprise the man who had spoken was not the one to attack first. That dubious honor went to the man next to him. He was taller than the first man and powerfully built, reminding Harry strongly of Master Glaive. He also wielded a longer than average lightsaber with a thicker than average plasma blade, for all the universe like the lightsaber equivalent of a claymore.

"RAAAHHHH!" With that wordless roar the man attacked, his eyes pure yellow with reddish irises to them, the sign of a berserker. Harry met him with a flash of his lightsaber followed by a Force Push that hurled him away. He then had to to duck, covering himself with Force Shield as the third Sith attacked him while behind him the two Jedi swiftly engaged Aayla, separating the two padawans for a moment. Their bond here was not nearly as close as it was in the real world for some reason, forcing them to fall back

The third Sith was a woman. She had dark skin, the color of light mocha. Her hair fell to her shoulders in a cascade of black ringlets, and she had full, pouting red lips. She also a small tattoo of some kind on one cheek, but rather than take away from her beauty, it gave her a darkly sensual appearance, adding to the effect of her lips and her deep brown and yellow eyes. Those eyes were the only ones of the three facing Harry that were not pure yellow, the sign of someone who had completely fallen to the Dark Side.

She was also using a light whip, a whip made of reddish plasma. As it crashed against his Force Shield, Harry leaped away so that he could face all three of them without turning his body. "That's new and is giving me some very, very bad mental images," Harry said impishly, staring at the woman.

"What's the matter, boy?" she asked, whipping the light whip around her in a show of significant skill. "Don't think you're man enough?"

"I think my bond mate would object if I said anything beyond 'no comment.'" Harry replied. He then watched as her eyes narrowed, suddenly glinting with more yellow than before. Then they all attacked as one.

"Aren't you lot going to even give me your names?" Harry asked while conjuring up a more powerful Force Shield, keeping them all back for a moment as he studied them in turn. However, he had never seen any faces in the histories he'd read which covered the New Sith Wars, and even their weapons were not really helping him figure out who was who here.

"I am Lord Skere Kaan, boy!" the first man said, stepping back slightly and raising his rather normal looking lightsaber in comparison to the other two in a classic Ataru stance. "You have some very interesting tricks, and you are powerful. More powerful than even the other two Masters I sensed with you. Your body will serve me far better than theirs could have once I excise your spirit from it."

"Ah, well, it's nice to know the stakes!" Harry replied, wincing internally as he realized he was facing the man who had led the Brotherhood of Darkness, the man who had betrayed the Jedi High Council to become a Sith, gathering most of the Sith alive during the New Sith Wars under one banner. _Not good._

With that in mind Harry stopped taunting them and went on the attack. Bombarda spells lashed out at the feet and faces of the woman and the larger man as he rushed to engage Lord Kaan in a lightsaber duel, or so Kaan thought. Before they clashed, however, Harry teleported away, flashing a fireball towards the man. At the same time he tried to conjure up small stone needles and knives, but the technique fizzled, the images in his mind not superimposing themselves on the reality around them.

Realizing what that meant, Harry turned, roaring mentally as he engaged the larger Sith blade to blade, pitting his Djem So against the other man's for a brief second before popping away once more. _"Aayla! Transfiguration and conjuration doesn't work here!"_

This timely warning saved Aayla's life as she had been about to conjure up a stone wall to slow down the Jedi facing her. Instead she switched her spell to a Force Shield of some strength, watching as the blade of one Jedi impacted it, bouncing off and away. A blast of air caught him and hurled him backwards mid leap, his Ataru style having opened himself up to that before he could realize it.

"You are no Jedi! You feel love; you let your emotions rule you. There is no passion, there is serenity. You are not worthy of being a Jedi!" said one of them as she circled Aayla to the left. She was a Bothan wielding twin lightsabers like Aayla's, only the longer, normal variety rather than her short shotos.

The two of them exchanged a swirling dance of Ataru for a few moments before the other Jedi came back, striking at Aayla's back. He was surprised when she conjured a Force Shield once more to block the blow, twisting around his attack as it dissipated. He barely got out of the way of her riposte. This Jedi was a Miraluka man. However after that near brush with death (or whatever the equivalent was here), he seemed to gather himself, bringing up his lightsaber to block a flurry of blows while she sent a blast of wind towards the Bothan woman. _"Hang on, Harry!"_

"Even now you show your divided loyalties," said the Miraluka man, shaking his head. "How far have the Jedi fallen from our time to allow someone like you and this Harry to have that bond. It will lead to darkness! There is no emotion, there is serenity! We did not sacrifice ourselves so that more Jedi could fall to the Dark Side by allowing for soft emotions."

"How can you be so certain I will fall to the Dark?" Aayla said, bringing her lightsabers up in a Soresu stance for a moment while she tried to get through to the two Jedi with her words. "Harry and I might've bonded accidentally when we were younger, but neither of us has ever regretted it." She paused, then added, "Well, except for when we were going through puberty."

"You revel in your bond, which has become more important to you than the very Force we as Jedi are meant to serve!" the Bothan retorted, attacking even more furiously. But she couldn't get through Aayla's defenses. Aided by Force Shields and Air Blasts of significant strength, the padawan was holding her own against both Jedi Masters with an ease which would have been impossible in their own time. She hadn't even used the Bombarda technique yet, waiting for it when it would be most effective.

"Every time a Jedi has allowed his emotions to rule him in any way they have fallen to the Dark," said the Miraluka, almost sounding sorrowful as he, too, attacked. "We are not doing this out of petty mindedness or a false understanding of the ways of the Force. We are trying to save you from a fate you cannot truly comprehend. The Force is a harsh mistress. It demands balance and control."

"Control, yes, but not unfeeling control!" Aayla countered, using some of the same arguments she and Harry had used numerous times before. _Gah, even ghosts want to give us a piece of their minds about our bond._ "If you feel nothing, if you banish emotions away into the Force because you do not understand emotions, when they come upon you suddenly, of course you will overreact, of course you will give into the darker emotions. Because you have nothing to combat them!"

"Sophistry!" Bothan woman said, attacking all the more furiously. Aayla could feel her Force Shields dimming in strength as the fight went on, dozens, hundreds of flashing lightsaber blows exchanged in this place beyond time.

But that idea gave Aayla a clue as to another weapon at her disposal. _If this place really is part of the Force, then I should be able to share my memories here with these two like if we were in a pensieve._

Reaching forward and within at the same time with the Force, Aayla thrust out the memory of her and Harry's discussion with the High Council, followed swiftly by what Harry had protected her from in Jabba's palace. As the memory reached its critical moment, she flashed out a blast of Force Light at the Miraluka male, blinding him and sending him reeling backwards. She wasn't nearly as good at using Force Light as Harry was, but she could at least conjure it into being for a short amount of time.

"I am of the Light!" she said as Harry's memory did the same. "Can you still say the same? When you look down on me for what I have done, for what I feel, for loving, caring, for being **alive**! If you cannot feel, if you cannot understand that being emotionless is not serenity, are you truly alive? Do you truly serve the Force like that, or just the balance? And which is closer to the Dark Side, the ones who stand on the balance point, or in the Light?"

The Bothan woman stared at her, then down at her own lightsabers, deactivating them as true lucidity returned to her face, her fur falling flat to her body from where it had risen. She looked into Aayla's eyes and nodded a silent affirmation. "Do it."

Aayla struck then, her lightsaber flicking out almost gently to decapitate the spirit.

In that moment the woman had realized that she was indeed serving the Dark Side, regardless of what she thought she had been doing a moment before. And in death came release. "Thank you," the spirit whispered as it slowly disappeared to join several of the unformed spirits who Lily had already banished.

That left Aayla facing off with the male Miralukan. This Jedi seemed more caught up in his own diatribe and had simply ignored the vision that Aayla had shared. Moreover, he now attacked using some of the same techniques Aayla had been while utilizing more Force Pushes, and his Force Precognition had become stronger too.

 _This is going to take a while,_ Aayla thought, glaring at the man even as she heard the fight around Harry beginning to escalate.

 **OOOOOOO**

Despite not facing as many spirits, Quinlan faced just as legitimate a threat as the two younger padawans. He was only attacked by one, a Rutian Twi'lek like Aayla, although her skin had dark whirling tattoos of red on the blue skin to go with her yellow eyes.

She attacked with a ferocity that he could barely match, while also reaching deep into his mind, battering through his defenses unlike the spirits attacking Aayla and Harry, who had been unable to do so. Every dark moment, every fearful instant, every angry battle where Quinlan had nearly fallen to the Dark Side, every moment where he had used his powers to pull images from objects and felt the previous user's anger, hate, or fear whirled around him. The Rutian Sith used them like physical weapons while their lightsabers clashed and clashed and clashed again, the woman's mastery of Djem So giving his own skill in Ataru a run for its money.

"You are of the Dark already! You know its power. Join me, let me in, and we will become more powerful together than either of us could ever be alone! It will be sweet," she said, suddenly ducking under his guard, putting one arm around his shoulders and pressing her body flush against his as she whispered seductively into his ear. "You know it to be true. The memory of your parents' death to Anzati started you down this path. Your master knew this, forcing you into the shadows every chance he could. Take your anger and your rage and use it!"

Frozen for a moment, Quinlan didn't try to dodge as the woman thrust her lightsaber through his chest. The pain was agonizing, but no more than her words were here in this strange realm between the living and the dead. "That's right, give into the Dark," she whispered, moving with him so their bodies were still pressed together.

"The Dark Side is a curse, a trap," said another memory in his mind, a memory of his discussions with Knight Komari. The two of them had talked to one another about things he'd never even told his own master, things that she had only talked about with Master Luminara during her recovery. He had shared the darkness about his past, his parent's murder by Anzati and the way he had been forced to view it via his psychometry, the rage and anger and fear that had spawned in him which he'd had to deal with numerous times since. In return Komari had shared her torture by the Bando Gora, how she had learned to embrace the pain and feed off the hate to free herself.

"But it is a curse," she said, shaking her head and touching her eyes. "It sears out all other parts of you. Every Dark Side user has spouted out that only they understand the true nature of the Force, but the moment they allow themselves to be controlled by the their Dark emotions, they lose everything. You lose everything, becoming less than you are. Do not fall for that; do not fall for the seduction of the Dark."

With that thought Quinlan pulled himself forward and lashed out behind him the blow barely blocked by his attacker's lightsaber. "No," he said slowly, pushing himself to his feet and feeling at his chest where the blow she had dealt him had disappeared. He was still in pain, and still far weaker now than he had been a few moments before, but he was still in one piece. "No, I will not be turned. I will not be used by the likes of you."

That seemed to enrage the woman, and she wore it as she charged forward, her lightsaber flashing out to meet his own in a welter of sparks and the "Fizz-thrum!" of lightsaber combat.

 **OOOOOOO**

Like Quinlan, Alecto was attacked both verbally and physically in this odd realm between life and death, his mental defenses not up to the level of the two Masters or the bonded couple.

But he handled it far better than Quinlan had at first. He had known about his slight jealousy for some time, his feeling of inadequacy in comparison to Harry. He had dealt with all of that during the Force gestalt the padawan trio had used against the Horde. He also had realized something that had eluded the others, facing immediate attack upon their mental forms.

The two Sith spirits attacking him were astonished at the strength of his response, hurling the mental attack out of his mind as he clashed with their own physical representations.

"That's right," he said calmly. "I am a rock. I am their rock." With that, Alecto reached into himself, using one of the body changing spells. Elsewhere he couldn't use that spell beyond changing his skin color, but here, in a realm where his physical body was a product of Alecto's mental concept of himself, he could, and did so now to an astonishing degree.

The two Sith, one seeming human and one Nautolan, watched in shock as their target's skin shifted, becoming rocky. Their lightsabers actually bounced off his changed skin, though Alecto had to hide a wince. Forcing his image of himself to seem more powerful than the memories of their lightsabers had hardened his skin a lot, but the heat had still gotten through. Despite that he smirked at the two Sith. "Do you know what swords do when they meet rock? They break. Your words will not hurt me, your power does not tempt me, and you will **never** break me!"

 **OOOOOOO**

Micah was able to keep out the attempts by the spirits to get into his mind, and he had an easier time of it, at least at first. Four low ranking Sith who had somehow kept the memory of their physical bodies after all these years attacked him almost immediately upon their arrival in this odd, in-between space.

But while they were strong enough to actually form into a physical representation, unlike the spirits that Lily was dealing with, they weren't very good at fighting as a unit. They got in one another's way, and none of them seemed able to deal with his Bombarda or Shield techniques. It took him some time, but he dealt with them all, the last falling to a strike to the side as his other lightsaber blocked the blow the Sith had intended to decapitate him.

But the next round of attackers were two Jedi Masters. They assailed him with words as they did with their lightsabers, trying to castigate him for using those techniques. Micah tried to debate the point, tried to point out that just because they were new and unusual and, indeed, had never seen before, did not mean they were evil. He tried to point out that the bond between Aayla and Harry meant they would never be able to fall to the Dark Side through jealousy, that at the heart of their love was a selflessness that was simply astonishing.

He tried to explain that the two of them were a force for the Light Side, but the Jedi were not listening. Micah, and by extension the others, were different to what they knew and were therefore Dark in their eyes. _Is this the result of fighting the New Sith Wars, that anything different becomes the enemy?_ Micah would have liked to think so, on top of their long, pain filled incarceration. But he knew that the Order could well have reacted the same way if not for Fay, Tholme and others.

Shaking that thought off, Micah began to fight them in earnest. _All I can do for them now is to free them._

 **OOOOOOO**

In stark contrast to the others, Master Fay's presence seemed to put off most of the spirits from attacking her for some reason, even after she projected her mind out into the Force. But several of the most fanatical of the Jedi attacked her one after another. The first was a Jedi knight named Turpimir, the same name which was given to one of the planets in the system. But he had been driven mad by the pain of the Dark Side, and she could only kill his body image, releasing him to move on.

He was followed by three more. These were all so-called Jedi Lords rather than Knights, men who had commanded troops of Jedi and volunteers against the Sith. Despite their arrogance and pride, Fay was able to convince two of them to rejoin the Force with her words. The third she was forced to help on his way.

The fifth spirit she faced, however, was someone else entirely, someone who Fay recognized from several sealed segments of the Temple archives. "Lord Hoth," she said, nodding her head, still somewhat bemused by the idea of having a body here in this realm between the living and the dead. "I would say it was a pleasure to see you, but seeing as you have decided to assail me thus rather than passing on to your well-deserved rest, I fear that any pleasure I get from the meeting will be quixotic at best."

Lord Hoth was a tall man, as tall as Skere Kaan, but built on a broader scale. He wore Mandalorian Beskar armor plate, vambraces, and armored leggings, along with a reddish, fur lined cloak coming from his shoulders down his back. He had long, silver hair done up into a ponytail, was in desperate need of a shave, and his face, overall, would never be called handsome, but perhaps could be called commanding.

On said face at the moment was a glare, which he was directing at the Elfin Jedi Master. "You, **you** are believed to be a Jedi Master? Where is your lightsaber?"

Fay cocked an eyebrow. "If a Jedi's worth is defined by a weapon, that is what he or she is. A lightsaber should be a tool, not a symbol of authority."

"Ah, a Consular," Lord Hoth said sneeringly, activating his lightsaber as he moved forward. "The kind that allowed the rise of the Sith in the first place. The type that tried to lift Kaan above all others as a Chosen One to do their fighting for them. Never understanding that nonviolence will never be a solution, never realizing that their arrogant belief that they knew what was best led us and the universe into darkness!"

With those words he attacked, blinking in surprise as his lightsaber hit a Force Shield several feet away from Master Fay, who simply stood there calmly, her arms folded in her robes. "Things have changed since then. And just because I do not carry a lightsaber does not mean I am not a threat." With that she lashed out with a Force Push of such magnitude that Hoth could not combat it, despite having prepared himself, and found his body hurled away from Fay.

But it didn't hurt him, and he quickly leaped back, coming back with his own Push, hammering against the shield and even creating a large cutting Force, like a technique Harry had created, but more powerful. But Master Fay simply stood there calmly, weathering the storm without apparent effort, her shield sustaining his assault with ease. This was not really the case, but it seemed so to Lord Hoth, and seemed to prick his pride.

"What would you have done in my place! You with your ivory tower beliefs, with your nonaggression!? You would have died to the Sith! The whole universe would have fallen to them were it not for me, my army, and my lightsaber! The Dark Side, evil, must be fought no matter the cost!"

"I would've fought, but in my own way," Fay said, her serenity an ocean of calm that Hoth's heated words could not penetrate. Suddenly her shield disappeared and Lord Hoth's lightsaber flew past her. Before he could recover she had stepped into his reach, touching his face with one hand. "You took so much on yourself, but it is time to let go. Let go of this anger and obsession, Lord Hoth, and become one with the Force."

A blast of Force Light lashed out from her hand, but Hoth had somehow seen it coming with his Force Precognition, and he jerked away, bringing his lightsaber up and around into where Fay was standing, only to find that Fay was gone, having teleported away. The two of them stared at one another for a brief moment, then Hoth roared and attacked once more.

"Stubborn man," Fay said with a sigh, readying herself for his charge. _This looks like it might take some time._

 **OOOOOOO**

While the Jedi passing on felt nothing but bliss after being released, the Sith felt nothing but fear. Because at the bottom of the Dark Side was not hate, but arrogance and self-importance. They felt they were each singular, not part of a whole, and because of that could not rejoin the Force. For them death was an ending, whereas for the Jedi it was simply a merging into a greater whole.

Harry learned this as he decapitated the larger Master Glaive look-alike, while holding his side where a near collision had occurred. A Force Crush, or the Sith equivalent, anyway, had gotten through his defenses, breaking several of his metaphorical ribs. But Harry had dodged just enough of the blow that it hadn't crippled him. He was then able to concentrate through the pain to lash out with a Reducto to the large man's head, blowing is to pieces as he gaped in shock at Harry's survival.

 _How the heck is that even working, anyway? I mean, I know this isn't really my mind—I can feel the connection to the rest of my psyche out there, protected by mine and Aayla's shields—but I'm still hurting_ _ **here**_ _!_ Shaking off such existential thoughts, Harry quickly brought up his lightsaber to batter aside Lord Kaan's once more, followed by ducking underneath a blow from the woman.

All along, all three of the Sith had been attempting to get through the bonded pair's defenses to attack Harry both verbally and physically, but it hadn't worked. Now angry and becoming fearful at the number of techniques the young padawan was using, the as-yet unnamed woman backed off, staring around them for a moment, fearing that this battle was going against them. Only the three of them plus the two Jedi thralls had been able form their bodies once more, and one of those thralls had somehow broken free of Kaan's power. The other was slowly being overwhelmed by the Twi'lek girl.

Looking around, she at last spotted the link between Harry and Aayla and scowled, her eyes once more flickering yellow. "You!" she said, pointing her light whip at him as it coiled in the air. "You! What is so special about you that you are allowed to remain within the Order if you love someone like that?"

"Is this really the time to ask me questions, miss?" Harry shouted back, yelping as a near cut from Kaan nearly scored his side. The heat from the near miss stung something fierce, despite all this happening somehow in his head-and-yet-not. Worse, Kaan was adapting quickly. Every time Harry used a specific technique against him he won some ground, but then Kaan would come right back and either use the same technique against him or simply allow for it with his Force Precognition.

"Answer the question, boy, or I'll join the attack on you or your little lover over there," the sultry beauty retorted.

"GAH, you've got a point. But it's easier to show you, miss," Harry said while dodging another attack. _Anything to make sure she doesn't join in again!_

With that thought Harry lashed out with a Force Light blast. He couldn't form actual constructs here for some reason, but the Force Light forced Kaan away screaming. He actually dissipated his physical form for a time, only to reappear several yards away. Sith Lightning lanced from one hand while the other sent another Force Crush at Harry, but Harry got up a shield in time before turning his attention to answering the woman's question.

With a wave of his hands Harry brought out the memory of the time he and Aayla had bonded, then the memory of their confronting the High Council. Throughout this the woman stood and watched while Harry and Skere Kaan dueled, moving around the area, even teleporting occasionally, both of them. Kaan's lightning was matched by Harry's fire manipulation, his greater speed and strength, and by his Force Light. Their Force Precognition abilities were too close in skill for either to have an advantage there. Even their lightsaber skills were equal, Harry's odd mix of Makashi and Djem So against Kaan's style, the style known as Juyo when the man had been actually alive.

"…children—dumb, foolish children—were able to, to create something so selfless," the woman murmured. Then, as the memory of the confrontation with the High Council played out around her, she grit her teeth, her eyes once more flickering yellow as she turned and roared, rushing toward Harry, who thankfully had moved well away from the woman during his fight with Kaan. "I was kicked out of the Order for less than this! I was forced to choose between my love and the Order! Chastised, thrust aside, and then left alone, and, and you are favored like this!"

"Left alone?" Harry asked, even as he fought with Lord Kaan, idly noting the woman had sort of ignored both the fact that the bond had let him save Aayla and his use of Force Light, which at the time seemed to have overawed the High Council. He thrust out another Force Crush, which was blocked by a hasty Force Shield, and then Lord Kaan once more was forced to dodge a fireball to the face, not noticing the Force Push coming right behind it until it slammed him up and away from Harry.

He landed on his feet and began to circle Harry's position, and Harry started to feel several dozen probes attempting to get into his mind: failing but doing far better than any mental assault he'd had to deal with before this. They got past the first line of protection, the imagined shield Aayla and Harry both maintained around their minds. There the probes were caught by the more active defenses, a series of animals that attacked the probes, tearing several asunder.

This allowed Harry to concentrate on trying to talk the woman down from attacking him again while he tried to use the Force to heal his injuries. "What do you mean, left alone? Surely if you were in love with someone, that other person left with you, right?"

"He chose the Order over me!" the woman's shrieked, attacking despite Harry's words. Her light-whip lashed out, switching this way and that, and Harry struggled to match it with his own lightsaber. A Force Push at Harry's legs nearly caught him off balance. Whipping her light whip around in a display of Makashi and Ataru, she pushed the now off-balance Harry back. Eventually he had to just throw up another Force Shield before she could finish him off. This opened Harry up to an attack from Kaan from the side, having stopped his mental assaults.

Even as he tried to fend the Sith Lord off, however, Harry replied to the woman. "I'm sorry to hear that," he said sincerely.

"What?" she said, actually pausing in her attack, much to Harry's well-hidden relief.

This opening let Harry shunt his power away from the Force Shield holding her at bay. Instead he locked blades with Kaan, then grabbed his legs with a Force Grab, hurling him into the air. Kaan righted himself mid-air, blocking both Bombarda that would've taken him in the chest with a Force Push which disrupted Harry's technique short of the target. He then blocked Harry's follow-on lightsaber attack with his own as Harry leaped after him. A high, overhead blow threw Kaan back to the ground, and Harry's follow up Push kept him there as Harry landed, pressing him hard, his Djem So finally beginning to batter the other man's defense down.

Kaan shouted angrily at the woman. "What are you doing?! Help me, Githany!"

"What do you mean," she asked instead, her eyes now normal rather than yellow tinged, "that you are sorry for that?"

"Well," Harry said, grunting as Kaan somehow got some momentum behind him and began to attack again. "I mean, it sounds as if your fall to the Dark Side could've been avoided if this guy, whoever it was, felt for you as much as you felt for him. I wish I could tell you the secret of how Aayla on I formed our bond, but I can't. I wasn't the one who forged it."

At that moment Aayla appeared, having finished her own fight at last. She was tired, one arm was hanging loosely at her side from a near miss from a lightsaber, and her leg was trailing. Her physical mental manifestation had taken several blows when her opponent proved to be able to use his hands and feet as weapons. But they were healing as she moved towards Harry, her eyes glimmering.

Harry quickly sent her the memory of the last few moments as the woman attacking him turned to her. At the same time Kaan lashed out with his own fireball, forcing Harry to concentrate on him again, his fingers searing from the heat of the blast behind a hasty Force Push which hit and exploded the fireball right before it would have hit him.

"And what do you think?" the now named Githany roared, moving to attack Aayla with her light-whip. "Do you think my fall to the Dark was preordained, like so many have? Or do you think it could have been avoided if Charny had loved me." She sounded almost desperate now, her tone that of a far younger woman, and Harry realized with a jolt that while she might not have fallen utterly to the Dark Side, she was just as insane as the other spirits trapped in the Thought Bomb.

"It certainly could've been avoided," Aayla said calmly, blocking the furious attacks with her own twin lightsabers. Jar'kai seemed to work better against the incredibly chaotic movements allowed by the light whip. This let Aayla concentrate on exchanging words with the woman. "And for that alone I blame this other person, Charny? Huh. Isn't there a planet named after him? Ugh, so wrong."

This won a laugh from the mad Githany, and Aayla went on, still calmly. In fact, she was channeling the same tone that Master Fay used when dispensing justice as part of her duties as a Jedi. "If he had been up front with you, if he had admitted that he did not love you like you loved him, perhaps your dalliance would've ended and your fall would've been avoided."

"However," Aayla went on sternly, batting a light-whip attack to one side with her both her swords, then lashing out with a Force Push that pushed Githany away from her a half step. "That does not excuse your actions after falling. While you might have fallen into the Dark Side because of the actions of someone else, everything else you did was your own doing. I can't punish you for that. I won't judge you and give you another person to resent and thereby absolve you of your guilt over all that. Your deeds are between you and the Force."

" _Um, Aayla, are you sure you know what you're doing?"_ Harry sent, wincing as some kind of wind cutting technique got through his defenses and cut into his leg. Kaan was getting better the longer this fight went on, his Force Precognition better anticipating Harry's attacks, and Harry found himself severely hampered by his inability to use transfiguration or conjuration. Kaan's experience facing Force users so often in real life or death combat was beginning to tell, only Harry's sporadic use of Force Light still throwing him off, but Harry couldn't sustain the technique for very long here for some reason. The light just faded away after flaring brightly in his hands.

" _Trust me, Harry. Remember, I'm the empath here. Even wherever the hell we are I can sense Githany's emotions. There's a lot of guilt in there along with rage, fear, and jealousy. I need to acknowledge that guilt while also giving her a way to believe that she alone wasn't at fault for her becoming a Sith. Her leaving the Order and this Charny are at the center of her hate for the Order. Take those away, and she'll be more susceptible to actual discussion,"_ Aayla replied.

"You don't judge me for falling," Githany asked, stepping back, the look of madness fading from her face. Aayla noticed that the woman had been stunningly beautiful before she had fallen to the Dark Side.

"I don't judge you for falling," said Aayla, shaking her head, her lekku twitching with the movement. She stood back too, her lightsaber at her side, utterly defenseless, while she kept one eye on the ongoing battle between Kaan and Harry. "I won't even tell you that your actions afterward were without cause. It is up to you and the Force to judge your actions. What do you think of them now, looking back on them?"

Githany stared at Aayla, then turned to look at Harry. "And if either of you were told you had to end your relationship, sever your bond, or leave the Order, what would you do?" she asked softly, not acknowledging Aayla's last words.

"We'd say, screw the Order!" Harry and Aayla said as one, while Harry continued to fight the mad Lord Kaan.

He'd just stabbed the man through the chest, but instead of dissipating like the other Sith had after taking a mortal wound, Kaan had slammed a hard Force Crush into Harry, hurling him away. Harry winced as he felt more ribs cracking, and one of them had also punctured something inside him, but his attention was on Kaan, whose image had begun to heal itself almost as quickly as Harry had hurt him.

"Harry!" Aayla exclaimed, racing towards Lord Kaan and engaging him while the woman stared at them both. She lashed out with a blast of air which caught his hasty Force Push, following up with a series of air cutters, her specialty, which nearly caught Kaan flatfooted, cutting off an ear and a hand as he met her Jar'kai style with his own feverish Juyo.

"We're nearly winning this, woman!" Lord Kaan shouted at the woman Aayla had just left behind. "Don't let up! We kill these two, we can control their bodies and live again!"

"Is this what I want…?" Githany said aloud, more to herself than anyone else. "To snuff out that which I never had; am I really that, that petty? Are the Sith truly that's petty? Are we truly evil as we have always been painted as?

"The Sith might be," she said at last as Harry rejoined the fight. "But I am not."

With that she moved forward quickly, her light whip suddenly grabbing Lord Kaan's arm from behind, searing through it instantly. This allowed both of the padawans to stab him in the chest.

Where before his sense of self had been able to deal with the damage, this was simply too much, and his body began to come apart. "NO!" Kaan screamed, backing away and staring at them, the mad red and yellow tint in his eyes disappearing for a moment. "I, I don't want to die!"

The next instant Harry decapitated him with a Force Light beam. Kaan's body disappeared before it could fall to the ground. For a moment there was stillness, the three of them staring at one another while they started to hear the thunder and lightning and booming of Lily's fight in the distance fade.

Then Githany smiled. It was an honest and warm smile which tore away years from the woman's face. "Treasure one another," she said simply, "and remember my name, the tale of Githany. That is all I ask." With that she somehow disappeared, a Sith Lord returning to the Force as a whole at the last instant.

A second later Lily floated into view, quickly moving toward the two of them, having dealt with all of the spirits who had attacked the two padawans but had not been able to form actual bodies. "Well, that was interesting."

"Your British understatement is beginning to annoy, Mama Lily," Aayla said with a chuckle, before all three of them found themselves back once more in the material plane.

 **OOOOOOO**

How long the various battles had lasted in that odd, in between place, none of them knew. It had certainly been days before Master Giiett, who was the first to awake, did so. At least it was judging by how long his nails had noticeably grown, and he looked as if he was attempting to grow a beard. The others were no better after they woke up in turns, first Quinlan, then Alecto in quick succession.

It was then that they realized that some of the wounds they had taken wherever their spirits had been had also crossed over. Quinlan had a new burn scar right over his stomach and on a corresponding spot on his back. Alecto had bruises all over his arms and shoulders as if he had been struck numerous times by blunt objects rather than lightsabers, but he seemed quietly smug about it, and Micah was pleased with the changes he sensed in his padawan.

 _Although how much longer I will be calling him that is up for debate,_ he thought, while running his fingers through his beard. His nearly solid gray beard, Micah idly noticed, looking at his hands. Hands which, like his hair, pointed to the fact he had somehow aged during that battle. Micah could tell his body was at least a few years older somehow, though thankfully there was no sign to indicate they had been meditating that long.

The three of them watched over their friends for a few hours, feeling somewhat helpless, a feeling Jedi were decidedly not used to. Micah also noticed that their bodies were showing signs of the battle within, without, wherever. Even Micah wasn't certain how to describe where they had been fighting. It wasn't in the Force as a whole, but calling it the place between life and death was both a mouthful and didn't seem quite right either.

The changes for the two youngsters were much the same as it had been for Quinlan and Alecto: wounds and the natural growth of hair and nails for Harry and nails for Aayla. Their wounds were more numerous, but Quinlan pointed out why that would be very simply. "If you were an evil Force Ghost and had to decide which of us to try and take over, who would you choose? I have to wonder if it's a battle of two sides in there or an all-out brawl with all of them trying to fight off everyone else for the so-called prize."

Alecto nodded, sighing. "Master, before this journey began I must admit that I had felt a kernel, just a kernel, mind you, of jealousy towards Harry for his good fortune, and for his power and abilities. Since then I've realized that there is a major downside to being so talented. That from those who are gifted with the Force, much too is also demanded. I wish I could help them."

Keeping a smile off his face with difficulty, Micah nodded. "I know, but I can no longer sense any of the spirits in the Force here, and believe me, their presence was rather obvious before this. The Force font is still there, and very, very powerful, but the spirits are no longer…accessible, I suppose, from out here. Whether that means the fights occurred all in our own heads, I have no idea, but…"

Shaking his head, Micah looked down at Master Fay. Unlike the two youngsters, her body was showing no wounds at all. No, the change within Fay was something else entirely. As the hours passed, her body began to look…not frailer, but somehow transparent. It was as if her body was becoming a clear glass, filled with the Power of the Force for those with the ability to see.

He was still looking down at her when Fay's eyes blinked open, her eyes filled with the power of the Force to what would have been a frightening degree in anyone else. She blinked, and the next moment she opened her eyes they were back to normal. She shook her head slowly before looking first down at her body, then up at Master Giiett. "Well, this is…interesting."

"How are you feeling?" he asked quickly, grabbing a water bottle from nearby and handing it to her. Quinlan and Alecto quickly joined them, smiling at the ageless master.

"Odd… Very odd. I…feel more one with the Force than I have ever been before, but…not as if I left some of myself out there… More like I am… Hmm… This will take me some time to get used to, I think…" Fay knew herself and her connection to the Force better than any Jedi alive save for perhaps Yoda himself. She knew something was different now. Her physical body felt…cumbersome, enclosing. It fit poorly now for some odd reason. And her connection to the Force was… _Best to think about that later, Fay. There are some implications there that I need to think about. But first…_

Turning her attention back to the physical, she smiled at the trio of youths. (And yes, she included Micah in that assessment.) "I am well. How are Aayla and Harry?"

Just then Harry and Aayla began to groan, drawing all attention to them. An instant later Lily appeared between them as if coming out of a spit of nowhere. But Lily too was changed. Before this the Force Ghost had been a shade, almost colorless besides her eyes and hair for some reason, like an old picture left out in the sun too long and made translucent. Now she was more solid looking, more colorful. They could still see through her, but it was like looking through a waterfall rather than thin mist as it had been before.

Looking down at herself, Lily smiled grimly. "Huh, would you look at that? There seems to have been a upside to seeing off those specters."

"Specters?" Fay asked, quickly standing up. The move was awkward, like a marionette, almost, as her body fought to respond to her commands in a way she'd never felt before, even after being injured or meditating for days on end.

Lily explained what she had been doing, while below her Aayla and Harry finished waking up, wincing as they felt their wounds. They quickly began to use the Force to heal themselves. Slowly, burns and broken ribs healed as the others crowded around, trading questions.

Eventually everyone settled down, exchanging stories one after another in a more organized fashion. As they did, the two Masters became aware of the non-physical changes in the others. As they had dealt with the spirits, the power those spirits had contained had flowed into them, and, though for the most part they had rejected that power, Harry in particular having done so entirely, the others had not.

Alecto had changed in power the most. Before this he would have been termed a mid-to-low level Jedi in terms of power. He had gotten by with control, but that was now no longer the case. He would now be rated as a mid-to-high level Jedi in terms of power. Between that and the mental and emotional changes Alecto had gone through, both in this most recent challenge and throughout the journey, Micah knew Alecto was ready to be a Jedi Knight.

Harry, like the two Masters, hadn't taken in any of the power. Quinlan had taken some, but not much. Aayla had rejected most of it too, but she had been given power by Githany after the woman had willingly rejoined the Force. And somehow, her hands weren't empty either, something which the others had noticed but not commented on until the stories were done with.

"…She seems to be have left me her plasma whip," Aayla said slowly, holding the weapon in one hand and activating it to let the light whip slowly curl down to the ground next to the chair Harry had conjured for her.

In the shadow of one of the nearby statues a small opening had somehow appeared during that battle, the lightsaber having been hidden within. Nor was it the only one: other alcoves beneath other statues had opened, though the vast majority of those statues had crumbled into dust during the battle.

"The Force works in mysterious ways," Harry mused, shuddering a little at the light whip. "Um, you're not really going to keep that, are you?"

" _You already have controlling interest in my privates anyway, love. You don't need to become a full-on dominatrix,"_ he sent via their bond.

Aayla laughed but looked at him seriously while the others moved off to investigate the heretofore hidden alcoves. _"Actually, Harry unless the crystal in this is the one you're here to get, I might scavenge it. I don't know, I feel a connection to it, somehow._

Holding out his hand over the lightsaber, Harry once more sent his psyche out into the Force. After a moment he turned away, shaking his head absentmindedly as he stared up at the statue of Lord Hoth. Like the one across from him, a statue of another Jedi rather than Skere Kaan of course, it still stood unchanged, unlike many of the others. He stared hard and then pointed up there. "The crystal I'm here for is up there. I have no idea why."

"Well then, I suggest you go and get it," Fay said mildly, having come back just then.

Lily, however, reached down to brush her fingers through Harry's hair. The feeling was quite a bit more solid now, like a hand made of liquid touching his head, and he didn't need to try and channel some of the Force to the area to let Lily touch him for more than a brief second. "Let me go up and see if there's anything first, Harry."

With that she floated up, feeling the air around her far more than she had normally. But when she reached the statue she couldn't find anything, no sign of another hidden alcove or anything else. Returning and reporting that was a letdown, but Harry was undaunted. "I know it's up there. It's practically yelling at my Force senses now," he reported.

While the others looked on, Harry moved over to the statue and climbed up it, still using most of his Force Senses to home in on the crystal. Eventually he was perched on one of the statue's shoulders, his hand moving around to rest on its forehead. Why it was there he still had no idea, but the crystal he was here to find, the one that practically vibrated with his Force power already, was within the statue's forehead.

He and the others all noticed that it was in precisely the same place on Lord Hoth's forehead as where Harry had had his scar. That was both bizarre and creepy in his opinion, which he voiced to several shouts of agreement. Fay alone simply shook her head, while Micah smiled. "The Force works in mysterious ways, Harry. We already knew cleansing this Force Font was your task above all of ours. Is it really so strange that the Force, or at least the Light Side of it, would also make certain you were rewarded for your efforts?"

Micah looked at Fay sharply at that. It wasn't the first time that Fay had differentiated between the Light Side and the Force in general, but he had never called her out on it before. Perhaps after this would be time to do it.

Somewhat mollified by his master's words, Harry held his hand over the forehead, slowly shifting the rock so as not to distort or harm the statue. He could have just blasted the crystal out of the rock or simply used a overpowered Force Grab to wrench it out. But that felt wrong, somehow, and not just because he didn't want to damage the statue. Harry didn't want to start his interaction with the crystal in such a violent manner.

It took him a while, but Harry eventually pulled the crystal out of the rock, the rock acting almost like water for a moment as he did, before he let it solidify once more, transfiguring a stone in his other hand into a bit of the statue to replace what was lost by the crystal being taken out. Once that was done he hung there for a moment, looking at the crystal he had come so far and spent so many years, to get.

It was a bright yellow color, almost like citrine or jasper, but not quite, and it looked the size of the gems he'd seen in pictures about lightsaber construction. It would take very little work to get it ready to be used. It was unlike any gem Harry had ever seen before. _Not that I have a lot of experience with gems,_ Harry thought sardonically. Yet already he could feel his connection to the gem growing. It had taken years for the lightsaber Quinlan had given him from Sing's collection to feel like his own. The crystal already felt more like Harry's then that had.

Hopping down to land lightly on the ground in front of his master and the others, Harry held out the gem to them all. Master Giiett and Quinlan simply nodded, while Lily stared closely at it, her face hovering right above the crystal for a moment. Aayla smiled as did Alecto, remembering how they had found their own crystals, or, in Aayla's case, one of her two.

Fay took the crystal from Harry, smiling as she felt it thrumming gently with his presence already. Handing the crystal back and wondering what the color of the blade would be, Fay smiled. "Well done, Knight Potter. I believe this mission can be considered a resounding success."

"Knight Potter?" Harry asked in shock. After all, he, Aayla, and Alecto, for all their abilities and adventures up to this point, were still only twenty-five. Padawans did not normally become Knights until they were in their early thirties.

"Indeed. I think you, Aayla, and Alecto are all ready for your ascension to Knighthood. You have long since passed the Trials of Skill, Courage, and Flesh. This easily was more onerous than any Trial of Spirit, and between this and our finding our way through the nebula easily surpasses any Trial of Perception. You are ready, more than ready for your Knighthoods, all of you," Fay said, Quinlan and Micah nodding in agreement.

"Well, then," Harry said after a moment, while Aayla's mouth began to twitch as she fought back a laugh. "At least I won't need to deal with any more Peepee jokes!"

At that Aayla lost it and began to laugh, falling to her knees and just laughing loud and long in joy as the others all broke down and laughed too.

 **End Chapter**

* * *

The depth of the nebulae: this was an idea I expanded and made worse from canon. I do not believe that Sidious or those Sith of the Rule of Two would not have returned to Ruusan after Bane and Zannah died if they both knew of and could get to the Force Font created there by the Thought Bomb. This also allowed me to speed up time tremendously and have Harry and co. begin to build the foundations of their own power structure. Whether that power structure will include/be part of the Order, well, that is not going to be answered for a long while.


End file.
